Sword Art Online:Rebirth of the Absolute Sword
by GureNeko
Summary: She was the "Absolute Sword", the legend who had defeated several including the black swordsman Kirito but she was also the one fated to die since birth. But in this alternate universe, she is given another chance. Dive into her adventure as she starts from where it all began, the death game known as Sword Art Online. This is Konno Yuuki's story.
1. Chapter 1

**Herro. This is my first story in awhile and the background behind this story kinda goes like this. I was playing Sword Art Online : Lost Song and yes, I always put Yuuki as leader cause she's my favorite character 3. As soon as her story arc began with the Sleeping Knights, memories of the Light Novel and Anime came back and I wondered, what if she could somehow ... live? *DING* *DING*  
**

 **Welcome to Sword Art Online : Atarashi no Kisetsu**

 **For those who still don't know, Konno Yuuki is the same Yuuki from the Mother's Rosario arc of SAO! (Scrubs, go learn from a Beater or two)**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 1 : The First Day, Errors  
**_

It was one of the better days to be outdoors today. The sun was at the right temperature, not blazingly hot, but comfortably warm. A cooling breeze blew by, lightly shaking the leaves and flowers in the garden, rustling to break the silence of the calm garden. Under a large tree in this very garden sat two young girls, both aged twelve and their backs against the tree.

"Aiko! When is he coming?"

The younger of the two girls asked her older twin. The older twin smiles and reaches out with one of her hands, patting her younger sister's.

"Soon Yuuki. Doctor Naru never breaks his promises to us! He'll be here soon."

Today's date was November 6th, 2022. It was also a significant date for the world of gaming as VRMMOs would be born with the release of the new generation VR game, Sword Art Online. Created by the genius Kayaba Akihiko who also made the hardware necessary to play the game, the NerveGear, it is a must have for MMO fans and gamers. Plus, the experience of playing in virtual reality is uncomparable with the gaming consoles of today.

"Ah! He's waving us over!"

Aiko points to the exit of the garden and standing at the doors to enter to hospital was a man who was clearly a doctor by his attire, a white cloak. Doctor Naru gestures for the girls to come over and so, Aiko goes to her sister Yuuki, crouching in order to let Yuuki climb onto Aiko for a piggy-back. Slowly with Yuuki on her back, Aiko approaches her younger sister's wheelchair and seats her sister comfortably before taking the handles behind to push Yuuki.

"Doctor Naru! Did you manage to get it?"

Yuuki asks excitedly and the doctor smiles, taking out the hand he had hidden behind him revealing a disc holder. Inside had to be …

"Sword Art Online! Did you really get it Doctor Naru?"

The Doctor puts a finger to Yuuki's lips teasingly to stifle her questions and joy.

"Calm down Yuuki-chan or else everyone would want it! Did I ever break a promise to you and Aiko-chan before?"

He winks at the twins who both stare at him in awe. They weren't really expecting to get the game, Sword Art Online at all as they had seen the massive queues for the game at a game store near the hospital which was in view of the gardens which they regularly visit.

"H-How can we ever thank you Doctor Naru? We were joking when we asked you for the game!"

Aiko exclaims from behind the wheelchair.

"It's the least I can do for you girls." who are fated to die.

The Doctor leaves the last part unsaid. He watches their elated expressions with happiness and sorrow. Forced to stay in the hospital due to their deceased parents, the Konno twins were ticking time bombs but the timer was unknown to even the Doctor. When both twins were born, there was an accident which had required both of them to get a blood transfusion but the blood they were given was infected with the deadly virus known as the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). From then on, they thread a silver lining on their life, never knowing how much time they had left and fearing when they may suddenly die. Already, signs of worsening were showing in both twins, the obvious being Yuuki having lost the use of her legs.

"Is something wrong?"

The twins asked Doctor Naru, both tilting their heads as they watched him. The doctor shakes his head and hurriedly wipes a lone tear which was traversing down his wrinkled face. His eyes were moist and as he blinked, more tears threatened to exit as he saw both girls looking at him, curious expressions on their small cute faces. It was painful to think that their life rests in the hands of god. He smiles at them both again though it wasn't as warm as before.

"It's nothing. The NerveGears are already in your rooms so shoo shoo."

Aiko pushes Yuuki into the hospital after the doctor had both waved them away. They both return to their room on the upper floors of the hospital in a secluded ward for patients like them. The room was no longer the clean white room when they had first arrived two years and instead has seen much personalisation such as posters of games covering the formerly blank walls, assortments of colorful dolls littering the ground and now, two helmet-like objects which are the NerveGears set up for their use beside their beds.

"I'll go collect our dinner first! Don't start without me Yuuki!"

Aiko says as she stops her sister's wheelchair beside the bed and then helping her disabled younger twin climb into her bed. She then leaves the room towards the canteen to collect their meals.

It was too tempting however. The disc holder was still in Yuuki's hands and Aiko should have probably taken it. After a brief moment of installing Sword Art Online with the disc, Yuuki puts on the NerveGear and she lies on the bed, ready to get a headstart over her older sibling.

"Link … Start!"

* * *

The display of the NerveGear lights up, showing various colors of red, blue, green and many others. Yuuki no longer sees her room at all nor can she hear the sounds of the hospital outside her room. She was in virtual reality. Soon she will in Sword Art Online.

ERROR!

The bright colors suddenly vanished, leaving a black hole where there was once a rainbow. The red warning multiplied, circling around Yuuki's vision. She could feel nothing. Right now, she could not even see if she had a body. She could only wait for the darkness to reveal more to her.

DISC ID IN USE! PIRATE DETECTED!

The error warnings were replaced by this new message. Yuuki felt disappointment as she realises that the disc the Doctor had given them was a pirated copy.

"Guess I'll log out and tell Aiko the news …"

Yuuki says dejectedly and then she realises her problem. How does she log out? There wasn't a menu in site nor a clear way to exit the game.

"Log … out?"

She asks, unsure to the red messages floating around her. The glaring red messages vanished replaced by yellow letters slowly appearing as if being typed and it displays the message

"Welcome to Sword Art Online, ID 07284. I am Cardinal."

"H-Hello, Mr Cardinal-san … Can I log out?"

Yuuki asks the unknown entity behind the yellow words. The reply was almost instant.

"Under the orders of Kayaba Akihiko, players are not allowed to leave Sword Art Online."

There had to be some way to exit. There had to be! Yuuki thought desperately as she finishes reading the message. But there was nothing for her in this black void. Unable to see or do much, she can only see the yellow verdict. Minutes felt like hours in this emptiness. Yuuki shouted out to Cardinal with varied emotions. Anger, despair, hopelessness, pleading. Eventually after an eternity, a new message typed out before her.

"Previous owner of ID 07284, consciousness erased. Method of death : Attempted suicide by falling to death. Cerebum intact. Current owner of ID 07284, replacing consciousness of previous ID 07284."

"W-Wait! S-Someone died?!"

Yuuki shouted out with a voice cracked with fear but she could see no reply as the world illuminated. She raised her hands, or at least she tried as she had no arms in the dark world. But she felt her hands touch her face. Warm skin against her eyebrows. Slowly removing her hands from her eyes, the world of Sword Art Online unfolded before her.

It was more beautiful than the trailers and promotions she watched everyday. She looks up in awe to see structures which you expect to only see in fantasy books and a bright blue sky shining down.

"O-Out of the way!"

A person shoved past her, knocking her onto the ground. 'Ouch.' She thought and then widened her eyes in surprise. Her shoulder was slightly bruised from where she was knocked and her bottom hurt from landing on the ground. What gave her the biggest surprise though was her legs. She could move them like she had two years ago. There was feeling below her feet as she slowly got up.

"So this is virtual reality … Wait! I shouldn't be thinking about this now! Log out … log out."

Yuuki surveys the area around her, hoping to find someone to ask about it but in the street she was in, it was empty but there were signs a crowd had ran through here. Broken pottery and trampled groceries.

"Where is every…"

"Shiki-chan!"

A high-pitched voice pierced the silence of the street and before Yuuki could turn to face the sound, she was tackled onto the ground yet again though this time, a sobbing figure was embracing her tightly.

"Stupid … Stupid Shiki! W-We thought you died when you jumped! H-How happy we were w-when we saw your friend marker activate!"

What the crying figure said made Yuuki remember what the Cardinal had told her in that black room.

"Method of death : Attempted suicide by falling to death. Consciousness ...erased."

Yuuki muttered to herself. She had an idea of what might have happened. Her disc for Sword Art Online was apparently a copy of one owned by the person's avatar she is in, "Shiki" and from what the Cardinal had said, "Shiki" killed herself. Yuuki's consciousness has somehow been taken to replace "Shiki's." So Yuuki was now the person, "Shiki."

"Let my sister stand Maru-san."

Three more people came into view, all male. They might be teenagers due to their height and face but that might just be the avatars. Maru, the person on top of Yuuki rose, wiping the tears off her face with both hands. She like the other three also looked like she might be in her teen years. Above of their heads, Yuuki could just make out some words.

"Maru." "Lind." "Kiabaou." "Diavel."

One of the boys, "Diavel" extended their hand to Yuuki and when Yuuki took it, he brought her close into a hug.

"Don't do that again Shiki. You scared your brother here alot."

He whispered to her ear in a shaking voice. 'No, you should not be telling me this. I should not be here.' Yuuki could not feel embarrassed as an unknown person displayed affection for his "younger sister". Rather she felt sadness and hopelessness. She could tell the truth but that would probably cause complications for the group plus, maybe it was better to play as "Shiki" in this unknown world where she knew no one. Problem was … how?

"Shiki? You're unusually quiet … Are you okay?"

He holds Yuuki out in front of her, staring into her eyes. The rest of the group were also looking curiously

'Oh no. He's going to notice. What do I do?!' Yuuki thought anxiously but the brother's next words came.

"Wait … Yuu … ki? Why did your name change?"

Yuuki scanned what she could see in her view and saw found her health bar and mana bar on the top left hand corner. Beside a sphere with the number "1" likely indicating the level was her name. "Yuuki." Not "Shiki".

'Cardinal?' she pondered.

"Wait … Shiki do you know who I am?"

The brother waves a hand in front of Yuuki who finally has an idea of how she might get out of this situation.

"W-who am I?"

Yuuki feigned a scared, confused voice the best she can and closes her eyes to complete the act. It seems to work as the group seemed downcast and the brother shook his head and looked up, as if thinking. After a few moments, Yuuki felt a tap on her shoulder and she slowly opened her eyes and in her view was her "brother".

"I am Uchida Satoru. Your brother. You are Uchida Shiki, my sister. My friends, you know them by their in-game names except Maru of course."

They would all follow suit and give introductions about themselves. Maru's real name and IGN (in-game name) is the same just like how Shiki's real name and IGN was. Maru is the Uchida's neighbours and Shiki and Maru are good friends in the real world. Lind and Kiabaou were Satoru's friends from the real world but they never met Shiki in real life so there won't be much of an issue there unlike Maru and Diavel/Satoru whom Shiki were close to.

"Let's move out. We can try and fix this … side effect later. Right now, we should prepare to finish this game."

Diavel ordered his group and while there were a few protests, mainly from Kiabaou about letting the other players finish the game while they take it slow, Diavel shook his head and replied firmly.

"I'm not going to sit behind and wait for a miracle to happen. I'm getting my sister out of here no matter what. Plus, am I a person to sit this out?"

There was no answer required as Kiabaou raises both eyes to the virtual heavens before following the party as they moved off.


	2. Chapter 2

**Mother's Rosario is OP! That mana cost though. Darn Yuuki you made me cry more tears but at least you gave yourself a rather OP skill. And alright, enough of the Lost Song ramble. Welcome to Sword Art Online : Atarashi no Kisetsu chapter 2! (My proof-reader told me there has to be a no there for proper Japanese Grammer ... I suck) Oh boy is this a long one so get your drinks ready and brain awake as you read the newbie work this author brings you!  
**

 **I have a request if you so wish to assist. Reviews for the series thus far (while it is 2 chapters, its nearly 10000 words with Yuuki developed abit) would be nice! Constructive criticism is appreciated (Am I writing too long? Too many details? Not enough Kirito action?) and random slander/hate shall be dealt with by my [Object Remover]. Even just a simple message that you enjoy the series and want more would boost my morale significantly to write more!**

 **P.s Arigato Dragonspirit996! Your short review gave me encouragement to finish this one day earlier than I had planned to!**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 2 : The First Month, Forward**_

The hulking mass of virtual flesh and data stood opposite Yuuki. Its white coat and piercing red eyes do justice to its name, Alpha Boar. Unlike its weaker counterpart, the Frenzy Boar which was as dangerous as snails or slimes in common RPGs, this one moved faster, hit harder and attacks without provocation. Holding her Bronze Sword in front of her, she circled the boar while her eyes engaged in a staring contest with the boar's deep red.

Grunt! Squeal!

The Alpha Boar, apparently fed up with watching its prey from afar, charged with its tusks raised forward with the intent of killing the player in front of it and killing the person in the NerveGear. However, it missed and it was unable to stop as it was late to register Yuuki's sidestep as she had done it at the last second. As the beast tried to turn around, its legs suddenly gave way and it fell on the ground, its HP having less than 5% left. Red polygons escaped from the huge gash at its side where Yuuki's [Horizontal] Sword Skill had hit. Squealing now in pain and fear, the boar struggled to get up but only for a few moments as Yuuki's sword extinguished the its remaining HP and the Death animation plays. The Alpha Boar explodes into an endless number of green polygons showing that it was indeed dead.

"That makes nine. Now I just need …"

Yuuki was unable to finish as she suddenly jumps and below her, another Alpha Boar charges past. It stops its charge and turns around red eyes widened which would be its expression of surprise. It had snuck up onto Yuuki and would have definitely skewered her. Yuuki's eyes had only met the boar's briefly and players this close to death would be slow to react to another threat racing to them. But not someone who dances with death everyday since birth. She had dodged it with barely a seconds notice.

"Thanks! You saved me the trouble!"

Yuuki cheerfully told the boar as she gets into the Pre-Motion for the Sword Skill, [Rage Spike], a 1-Hit charge type attack. Her Bronze Sword glows blue to show that the system had registered her stance and prepared her body for the motion. Before the boar could even take another step, Yuuki crossed the distance and was now past the boar. Behind her, aimlessly facing the spot where Yuuki once was, the tenth Alpha Boar blew up into sparkling polygons, rewarding Yuuki with the last Quest Item she needed, the Alpha Boar Tusk.

"Oh crap! It's already 5AM! Better hurry up!"

Under the moonlight, the girl ran through the dark plains and towards a shadowy forest. Opening her map from the menu, she navigated her way to a point she had marked and it led her to a clearing in the forest. Under one of the trees of the forest was a bearded figure in a cloak, seated against the tree. His hands covered his stomach where blood flowed out from a puncture. This man thankfully was not a player but an event NPC with a special quest which rewards an unique, exclusive sword.

"T-Thank you. I can rest easy now knowing my revenge was successful. I … I will be taking … a break ...now."

The hunter NPC slowly fell silent and his hand's slackened. It was sad that there was no way to save him but Yuuki had to understand, this was just an event, this was not a real player. There was nothing she could do. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she pressed the Accept Reward button that appeared after her completion of the event quest, Request of the Fallen Hunter. A white light appeared in Yuuki's hands and it lengthened into the shape of a longsword before turning bright red.

"Hunter's Fang? Not bad but … not as good as Anneal Blade."

The other weapon that Yuuki speaks of is another exclusive weapon though it was not through an event like the one she has. It was a repeatable quest in Horunka Village but the quest was difficult to complete due to requiring a Quest Item from the monster known as Little Nepent and according to a player who had managed to acquire the item, he said that the drop rate of the Quest Item was likely less than 1%. Yuuki, Diavel and the rest of their party spent a week trying to acquire the said Quest Item but with the presence of several other players who also want to acquire the Anneal Blade as well as the unsustainable spawn rates of the Little Nepent, Diavel gave up, calling the party to proceed on.

The Hunter's Fang was definitely a good weapon but stats-wise, it was slightly lower in every aspect but a unique was a unique!

"I'll get Argo-chan a sweet treat for this. Now the time is. Woah! Gotta run!"

Checking the time again, Yuuki realises it was now 5:30 AM. 30 minutes left to get back to the Inn in Tolbana Town! She had to run now before Diavel and the party realises that "Shiki" was missing.

* * *

Nearly a month has passed since that day when reality was destroyed and recreated. The world of Sword Art Online can no longer be considered a game but a reality as death was as real as it sounded. As of now, the estimated number of dead players reaches 2000 deaths which was already about 20% of the population in this world. By this time, most of the remaining live players have accepted the world of Sword Art Online as their current reality and like all humans, they adapt to their surroundings.

During this time, Yuuki had learnt much about this world,the party she was forced to travel with as well as of herself. Firstly of the world of Sword Art Online. Everyone's appearance was a near exact replica of what they would look like in the real world so her current avatar would be what "Shiki" looks like in real life. Being twelve in the real world which is the same age as Yuuki, she was quite short, standing at a height of about 150 cm (or 4"9) with a thin and tiny frame. Overall, this was very similar to Yuuki's body in the real world with the exception of crimson red eyes, lustrous piano black long hair reaching to her waist and functioning legs.

Other things she had learnt about Sword Art Online. There was one way to log out, clear the 100 floors of the castle of Aincrad or in other words, finish Sword Art Online. Death in the game meant actual death in the real world and with the many dangers in this virtual reality, death was always a hair's breadth away.

Combat was a scary thing as every battle, you're entering another round with death. Except that Yuuki did not fear it as much as the ordinary player as she had been fighting an eternal battle with life. In an actual battle however, everything to Yuuki seemed to move in slow motion which is likely because she could focus without needing to worry of dying as much as the ordinary player.

Seated with the party in an amphitheatre-like structure, Yuuki watched as other players filed in. It was a few moments from the gathering for the occasion Diavel had promoted to the front-line fighters as "The First Floor Boss Strategy Meeting". There was another meeting prior to this a day ago with the objective to confirm the location of the boss room. Confirming the location and not finding is because prior to Sword Art Online, there was a Sword Art Online Beta where the 1000 lucky individuals who participated and are currently in the actual game are called Beta Testers. They are the ones who have the most information on the first 10 floors of the game as that was how much they had cleared during the Beta and they are also the ones that created a special player-made guidebook that is handed out freely by NPCs around the 1st Floor. The guidebook consisted of information about the several mechanics, monsters, skills and items that these Beta Testers had discovered during their time in the Beta including, the location and bosses. Reaching the boss room had been dangerous however, requiring Diavel and the party to cross 19 levels of randomised floors to finally reach the 20th floor of the dungeon where the boss room waited.

Now, the current meeting was to discuss the strategy to defeat the boss. Diavel gathered everyone close to where he stood in the middle of the amphitheatre where there was a ruined fountain which was where Yuuki and the rest of the party sat. The party cheered and booed Diavel as he jokingly introduced himself to the crowd as a Knight even though no such thing existed. But Yuuki's attention was diverted to two interesting figures she could see around the area. One was a person she planned to thank later. Argo or at the moment, infamously known as Argo the Rat. She was what you called an Information Broker or more simply put, someone that sells information. Her nickname, Rat, came from the way she needs payment for every single bit of information, including what her gender was or what her name even was.

* * *

Argo and Yuuki met in Horunka Village when Diavel and the party were attempting to hunt the Little Nepent in order to get the unique sword Anneal Blade. Even as they hunted for three days straight, they could not get the Quest Item from the Little Nepent in order to finish the quest. Yuuki decided to go solo hunting at night when the rest of the party slept at the inn of Horunka Village. As "Shiki" during the day, she was always standing in the backlines, holding the Buckler which the party had bought for her in front of her at all times, shaking in feigned cowardice. At night, the Buckler was discarded and there was no more fear, only determination as she wielded her sword and with her newly discovered skill of fast reaction speed, she cut down as many Little Nepents before sunrise came when she returned to the inn, unable to acquire the Quest Item.

"Oi you, "Shiki" was it? Or should I call you "Yuuki"?"

On the third night Yuuki went out solo hunting, a hooded figure stood at the entrance of the inn, blocking Yuuki's way in. Approaching Yuuki who was stunned by those words, the person removed the hood, revealing a girl with curly auburn hair but what was most eye-catching were the brown animal-like whiskers painted on both cheeks. She raised both her hands in a placating gesture and Yuuki could see the stranger's weapons. A knife attached to the left hand which served as a Claw weapon and on the right hand, a gauntlet with huge nails attached, acting as a throwing weapon. A very uncommon weapon set. The girl notices Yuuki staring at the weapons attached to her hands and grins at Yuuki.

"Nothing interesting bout these. But I'm interested in you."

The girl spoke with a strange nasal inflection and combined with her appearance, she resembled a rodent known as the rat. Later on, Yuuki learned that the unknown girl's nickname was Rat not only due to her looks and speech but also, the business she deals in.

"Information brokering. I pay you for your juicy tidbits, I offer my own but not without some Col."

The Rat says while rubbing thumb against finger to express her point. Everything to this girl had value behind it and that's where money or the currency of this world, Col, comes in.

"Let's do an information exchange. I'll tell you my name and you tell me why do you want to finish this Quest so badly."

Before Yuuki could even reply, the Rat had deviously added on.

"My name is Argo, the Information Broker or also known as the Rat. Now, your turn Yuu-chan!"

Even though she was tricked, Yuuki couldn't help but laugh. The morale of the players of Sword Art Online was rock bottom at the moment and this girl was grinning away like none of this mattered to her. Obliged to answer, Yuuki shared her story with the strange girl, Argo.

"There is someone waiting for me back in the real world. I have to get back quickly and getting stronger is what I can do now."

Aiko was waiting for her back in the real world and nothing would stop Yuuki from returning to the only person she had in her world. Not even a game of death.

"I like your determination and you have skill but … you're a total noob at MMORPGs aren't you?"

When Argo was greeted with a blank stare, she shook her head in disbelief.

"I'll help you. But you'll have to pay up in the end of course!"

* * *

Aside from Argo was another person of interest. Dressed in simple cloth and leather armor, what made him stand out was the sword behind his back. The Anneal Blade and also, that mess of black hair and eyes, dark as the night made him very recognisable to Yuuki as the player who had told her about the extremely low chances of acquiring the Anneal Blade. Beside him was yet another person like Argo wearing a hooded cloak. Dark red leather armor could be seen beneath the cloak as well as a long, thin sword known as the Rapier.

"Shiki! Let's go somewhere else while Satoru talks with the players."

Maru calls out to Yuuki and pulls her away from the meeting. Though Yuuki wanted to listen in on the conversations, as "Shiki", she would have little interest in such matters and also she would obediently follow Maru and Diavel.

"Ah wait here, I'll get us something to eat!"

Maru goes off but towards the direction they had just left from, clearly returning to Diavel's side. Something was going on in which Diavel did not want his younger sister "Shiki" know. Bored and helpless in this situation, she could only wait.

"Yuu-chan! Why aren't you back at the meeting?"

Hearing the familiar voice of Argo speaking with her special accent, Yuuki turns around the rat look alike girl standing behind her, leaning against the wall of a building.

"They don't want me back there! Also Argo-chan, it's Shiki, not Yuu-chan."

"Nah, I'll take Yuu-chan, it's cuter. You like it don't you!"

Argo begins laughing gleefully upon seeing Yuuki's pouting face. Yuuki liked the way Argo called her not because it was a "cute" name but because it reminded her of who she truly was. Being called Shiki for a month made her almost forget which person she was.

"I see you completed the event quest. Good job!"

Having had her laughs, Argo notices the red handle of the Hunter's Fang at Yuuki's side and points to it. Yuuki claps her hands, remembering what she had planned to do. Accessing her inventory, she takes out a sheepskin parchment with the stats of the Hunter's Fang written on it as well as a jar.

"Hehe. You know what I wanted to ask. 1000 Col for those stats thank you and … what's with the Nepent honey?"

Argo accepts both items and transfers the Col over but she holds out the jar to Yuuki, tilting her head curiously.

"It's a gift for Argo-chan who helped me find the event quest!"

"Nooo … You'll make me feel bad. Oh wait, I know how I can repay you for this."

Storing the gifts from Yuuki, Argo beckons for her to follow. They walked back towards the direction of the amphitheatre but instead of walking straight in, Argo led Yuuki around the amphitheatre to the back of the building. There, Argo tapped on specific parts of the stone walls and suddenly, the ground seemed to crumble, forming stairs that led underground. Going further inside, there was an opening ahead, enough to see through and Argo goes to it, gesturing for Yuuki to come along.

"That's why I feel the Beta Testers here should get on their knees and hand over all the money, items and information they have hoarded for themselves."

It was a voice Yuuki knew well because they had been in the same party during her time here. Kiabaou. While it is better to get along with your party members, Yuuki could never bring herself to get along with Kiabaou. Everything from his cactus-like hair style, grating voice and terrible attitude annoyed Yuuki. Whenever any trouble arose during their travels as a party, Kiabaou blamed everything on the Beta Testers like how he is doing now even though there was absolutely no benefit in doing so.

"Grr ... we walked into something distasteful."

It was a rare sight to see Argo without her cheerful grin. Now she was gritting her teeth, a frown on her face but she seemed more nervous than angry. From Yuuki's view of the ampitheatre, she could see the stands where all the players sat but not the fountain where Diavel and the party stood. Diavel was a person who would not allow Kiabaou to act in such a manner but, where was he? There were no protests from anyone, only mutterings.

"May I speak?"

A rich and strong voice spoke out from the crowd and Yuuki saw a giant stand up from the crowd. He was brown-skinned, standing tall at probably 190cm and with a face that clearly indicated he wasn't Japanese but he spoke the language clearly without any fault. What was most intimidating was his muscular body and the huge two-handed axe he carries easily behind his back. He proceeds down the stairs to the fountain, likely to confront Kiabaou.

"My name is Agil. Kiabaou-san, what you were saying is that many beginners died because the beta testers did not help them, and you wish for them to take responsibility and apologize, is that correct?"

"Y-Yeah that right."

From what she could hear, the giant Agil had managed to scare the cocky Kiabaou but what would this man say next? Blame the Beta Testers some more?

"I heard you mentioned money, items and information. I don't know about the first two but I believe you would have received this?"

"W-What about it?"

Now Yuuki was definitely curious. Agil had brought out something that made Kiabaou more nervous and it likely had something to do with information. Information. Looking at Argo beside her, she could see that Argo's signature grin had returned but there was something behind it as well. Relief.

"A worthy investment it was indeed. Well, I'll be leaving now then Yuu-chan, I have business elsewhere."

Argo stands up, waving good bye and leaving Yuuki even more curious about this investment that Argo spoke of. Just as Yuuki was about to turn back to the opening to watch the event's of the ampitheatre, Agro's voice called out from the entrance to this secret place.

"This wasn't pleasant so I'll leave you with another piece of information, free of charge. Diavel is not all that he seems."

Her brain had overheated from the sheer amount of confusion. First, what does Agil have that made Kiabaou so nervous. What was this investment of Argo's. What did she mean by "Diavel is not all that he seems". Well perhaps the first two curiosities were not as important but the last piece of information seemed to be serious. Is Agro telling Yuuki not to trust Diavel?

"Kiabaou-san. I can understand where you're coming from but, like Agil-san said, we are here to learn from their deaths and press onward. If we are to succeed in beating the boss, we will need these Beta Testers behind us as well. If not, we are likely to fail then what would be the point?"

Diavel's voice meant that he was there all along. He had allowed Kiabaou to bring up that terrible claim and continue it. There was something strange going on as Diavel usually kept Kiabaou in check when he spoke rudely. But now thinking back about it, that was only when Yuuki was around. She had not seen Kiabaou and Diavel by themselves without her so there was likely something Diavel did not want "Shiki" to know.

After Diavel had "convinced" Kiabaou, the strategy meeting went on seriously without any more talk about the Beta Testers. Yuuki learnt that what Agil had taken out to shoot down Kiabaou's argument was a guidebook that was issued in just about every shop on the 1st Floor. It detailed monster areas, items, drop rates, boss information and many others. This guidebook was written by none other the Information Broker, Agro the Rat but shockingly enough, these were given out free. Knowing Argo, she would sell even her hair if it could get her money. Diavel read out the relevant parts of the guidebook such as the name of the Boss, Illfang the Kobald Lord, its weapons, a one-handed axe and shield and a large curved sword called a Talwar which the boss switches to when three of its four health bars have been depleted. After that, he proceeded on to get everyone to party up in parties of six. From Yuuki's field of vision, she saw Maru appear, heading towards the exit of the amphitheatre.

"Time to get back!"

* * *

"Shiki! Lets go back."

"M-Maru, where's the food?"

"What about food?"

Alright, there was something afoot and Yuuki just confirmed it. In ten minutes, Maru had already forgotten that she had left Shiki behind on the presumption that she went to get food. "Diavel is not all that he seems". Argo's words came up in Yuuki's head as they returned to the amphitheatre. Already, the players were grouped together in parties of six in preparation for the boss battle with the exception of the black-haired boy and the hooded figure beside him.

"Be there tomorrow! Dismissed!"

Diavel yelled out to the players and most of them returned with varied shouts like "Roger!" or "See you there!". He then turned to Kiabaou and spoke to him.

"Didn't expect that man to give us trouble. What about the deal?"

"Ah that stupid guy would not accept according to the rat girl. Even raised the price like you said but he would not let go off that sword. Tchh I hate them all. That black haired idiot and the big mmmhmm?!"

Too late, Diavel realised that his younger sister had returned faster than he had expected and he covered Kiabaou's mouth to end the conversation.

"W-What are you talking about?"

Yuuki asked in a quiet voice while looking down, replicating "Shiki" flawlessly.

"Strategy for tomorrow's boss fight."

And he turned away, signaling that the conversation was over. Lies. Though he would say no more, she had overheard what they were talking about earlier and that gave her a hint of who to ask. A certain rat girl who left her not long ago.

* * *

It was 11:49 PM in one of the inns of Tolbana Town. Exhausted from interacting with other players since the morning all the way till just now, Diavel fell back onto the soft bed in the inn's room. 'That black swordsman ... Kirito will prove to be troublesome.' He sighs in disappointment and frustration as all his schemes till now had failed.

*Knock Knock*

"Onii-chan, can I come in?"

Diavel jumped of the bed, dusting himself off and shaking his head, ensuring that his everyday smile was ready to greet his beloved younger sister.

"Come in Shiki. The door isn't locked."

Dressed in a plain white overall and hugging a fluffy pillow, Yuuki steps into the room and goes over to Diavel who had gestured her over to take a seat on the bed.

"Can't sleep? Something on your mind?"

Diavel crouched so that his face was on the same level as Yuuki's. Looking straight into his eyes, Yuuki directly stated the reason she was here.

"Kiabaou-san."

His smile twitched as the name of his companion was mentioned.

"What about Kiabaou?"

"Why did you try to buy off a player's sword so badly you would spend all your money? Why did you let him talk about the Beta Testers like that? Why didn't you do something?"

The only sound left was the whistling of the wind outside as a dreary silence greeted Yuuki's accusations. Diavel looked away, in anger or in sadness Yuuki could not see. It was not till a minute later when he had thought of an answer did he return to face Yuuki with a pained smile on his face.

"I did this all for you. All to make myself strong enough to bring you back. Even if I must soil my values, as long as you can return back to reality, I will do everything."

Yuuki was speechless. The genuine feelings of love for his sister made Yuuki feel extremely guilty. Right now, "Shiki" was dead, Yuuki was only a replacement so right now, Diavel was only fighting for an illusion, a fleeting dream that can never come true.

"Do you remember, last year when uncle brought us to the mountains?"

All she could do was nod. She wouldn't know such an event.

"When we were stranded from the accident, we had to walk all the way back. We both annoyed uncle about wanting to give up but those words he gave us that day. There is only one way to go in life, and that's forward. After that, we didn't stop and finally made it home safe."

Tears were sliding from Diavel's face as his hands reached for Yuuki, his forced expression lost as his feelings let loose.

"Just like now, the only way to go is forward. Even if you call me a monster, I'll keep fighting if it keeps you safe and bring you home."

* * *

Fourty-four players gathered in front of the two huge doors that led to the boss room. In just a few short moments, the doors will open revealing the boss of the 1st floor, Illfang the Kobold Lord. Diavel repeated the plan to everyone again to be sure. There were a total of seven six-people parties and one two person party (the black-haired player and his hooded companion) and these parties were named Group A to Group G with the two acting as a support for Group E. Group A and B consisted of the players with tankier stats and equipment to be forward, blocking the brunt of the damage. Group C which was Diavel and five others with more damage orientated builds to constantly switch with the first two groups to do damage safely. The rest of the groups were not as organised and their main role was to take out the Boss's minions, the Ruin Kobold Sentinals. That was Yuuki's assigned role as she was in Group G which was the safest group, the furthest from combat.

"Everyone, its time. Lets go!"

The doors were slowly pushed open with Diavel taking lead. From what the party in front could see, it was a massive rectangular room about the same size of the floors below, being about at least ten metres in height, twenty metres in width and it was maybe a hundred metres or so to the back of the Boss Room. Above them, the ceiling lit up the whole room with a strange rainbow colored light. When all eight parties were inside the Boss Room, suddenly the room went dark. All attention was brought to the other end of the room where torches with a *flick* sound lit up, illuminating a large silhouette seated on a throne of bones. Illfang the Kobold King. It howled angrily at the players that had entered its domain, picking up an axe and leather buckler from the sides of its throne before jumping off its seat. The room began to light up again as more torches lit up revealing several smaller armoured Kobolds with poleaxes in their hands. The Ruin Kobold Sentinals. Raising his sword above his head dramatically, Diavel brought it down to point at the Kobold army, starting the battle.

"Charge!"

* * *

Groups A to C battled the Boss with their planned strategy, switching tanks and DPS (damage-per-second) constantly to efficiently do damage while keeping everyone's HPs above 50%. Stuck in Group G meant that Yuuki was left battling small fry but even so, the rest of her party handled the Ruin Kobold Sentinals easily as it was usually two kobolds against five players. Occasionally, a third may come but the duo party came, taking it out swiftly in just three attacks from the hooded rapier user while the black-haired swordsman parried the attacks of the Kobold. Very efficient and those two were clearing out the Kobold's faster than any of the six man parties.

"GUWAHHHHHH!"

A piercing roar echoed in the Boss Room and looking back at the boss Illfang, three of its HP bars were empty with only the last one remaing. As was said in the guidebook, Illfang the Kobold Lord reaches behind and draws out the curved sword, the Talwar. 'Is it?' Yuuki thought. There was a rough drawing of the weapon in the guidebook and the long, thin well refined blade in the Boss's hands looked significantly different from the chipped gigantic curved sword depicted.

"Stand back! I'll handle this."

Diavel shouted as he dashed past the front lines of Group B who were standing at the ready to block the attacks of the Boss. 'Why is he going in without his party! Wait .. is he ..." Yuuki remembered what Argo told her back at Horunka Village when Argo had agreed to teach Yuuki about MMORPGs and the mechanics of Sword Art Online. The Last Attack Bonus. Diavel's schemes were beginning to make sense to Yuuki but, all that just for an item bonus?

"Oii are you okay?!"

Yuuki had diverted her attention from her actual role for too long and when she turned to the shout, she could see that one of her party member's HPs were in the yellow zone. Another one of the party charges forward to block the Ruin Kobold Sentinal's next attack. Then Yuuki realised. There were six Kobolds surrounding her party at the moment.

"Kiabaou! What's the meaning of this!"

The black-haired swordsman and his companion was also trapped with Yuuki and her party by the wave of Kobolds.

"You're not getting the Last Attack scum."

Kiabaou, the leader of Group E said, turning to re-engage the Kobold his party was fight with. However, his party's formation had changed, having more gaps and allowing more Kobolds to sneak through and attack Yuuki's party. Lind's party, Group D was also following Kiabaou's example and letting Kobolds through. 'Another accomplice' Yuuki thought bitterly before returning her concentration to the Kobolds around her. Right now it was about ten kobolds against the fourteen of them as Group F had came to assist so it was highly unlikely that anyone would die but it would take time to finish the Kobolds off which was the goal of Diavel's plan. To delay the black-haired swordsman long enough for Diavel himself to land the Last Attack and get the bonus rare item.

"N-No! Fall back! That's not a Talwar!"

The black-haired swordsman shouts to Diavel who begins the Pre-Motion of the Sword Skill [Slant] (1-hit diagonal attack) as he reaches the Boss but his skill hits thin air as the Boss unexpectedly backflips. At this point, everyone watches in horror and disbelief as Diavel, stuck in the Post-Motion (moment of temporary rigidness) of his skill was launched into the air by Illfang. The long, thin weapon in its hands glows red and with a malicious grin, it performs an unknown Sword Skill in the air, landing two slashes on the immobile Diavel and final a thrust which launches him towards Group E, landing in front of Yuuki. With the scary sound effects of Diavel getting cut in the air, the laughing Illfang and their dying leader, all hell broke loose as the players scrambled desperately exit.

"S-Shiki. I'm sorry."

Diavel's HP bar was empty. His body starts fizzling as the game registers that the player was dead.

"You were in the Beta Test weren't you ..."

The black-haired swordsman was here, kneeling beside Diavel's dying body. On his face was a mixed expression of regret and anger.

"P-Please. Save everyone. Defeat the Boss."

The fizzling effect was intensifying and the swordsman nods, rushing off to face the boss with the hooded rapier user behind him.

"I love you Shiki. L-Live."

Yuuki couldn't move as the endless polygons fell around her like snow. Even if she was not truly Diavel's younger sister, the love he had shown for her till the end was to painful to bear.

"Save me! Someone!"

Sword Skill, [Rage Spike]. Yuuki's Hunter's Fang impales the Ruin Kobold Sentinal in the back before it could finish the player on the ground. There was no rest however. Around her, more than ten Ruin Kobold Sentnal's circled her, snarling at their lone prey. 'Why am I alive.' Yuuki asks herself as the Kobolds begin the uneven battle. Two of them raise their poleaxes to slam down onto Yuuki but she sidesteps to the left while activating the Pre-Motion for [Horizontal], severing both Kobolds from their upper bodies and they explode into a rain of polygons. 'Why is Diavel with something to live for dead while me with nothing am still alive.' There were five coming at once this time. Yuuki ran forward, knocking the closest Kobold's weapon away and using its head as a launch platform for her to jump above the other four. Before even landing, she prepared the Pre-Motion for [Slant] and as her feet touches the ground, her weapon shining with blue light slices into the back of three of the Kobolds, erasing their HP and existence. 'Why am I still fighting.' Sword Skill [Vertical], Sword Skill [Uppercut] two more Kobolds fell in quick succession. There were still at least eight left but Yuuki's Sword Skills were in the Cooling state (Cooldowns) meaning now she was fighting without them for about ten seconds. That was enough time for the remaining who attack at the same time. Yuuki rushes forward, stabbing one but without a Sword Skill behind it, there wasn't enough damage and the Ruin Kobold Sentinal snarls angrily at Yuuki and slams its Poleaxe into her head. She flew a few metres away, her Hunter's Fang out of her hand and landing beside her. Yuuki tries to get up and crawl for her sword but she immediately falls back onto the ground. Below her red HP bar was a box and inside it was stars moving around in a circle, the status ailment for stunned. 'Why? Am I going to die?' The Kobolds gather around her, jumping with their weapons raised above their heads in victory. The one she had stabbed glared at her with its yellow eyes as it raises its poleaxe. The poleaxe flies but it was out of the Kobold's grasp as a huge two-handed axe swings into view, knocking three Kobolds away from Yuuki and the remainder backs off, watching the brown giant warily.

"Oi you cowards! This brave girl is still fighting and you run! Get back in here!"

The rich, strong, commanding voice of Agil was greeted with a nervous cheer but some of the players run back into the fray, taking on the remaining Kobolds.

"You did well girl. Now take a break, let us handle the rest."

Handing a potion of minor healing to Yuuki, he ruffles her head before hefting his two-handed axe and heading to the Boss where the duo were still battling it. Free of the battle now, Yuuki had to make a decision. Without Diavel, traveling with the reminder of his former party was definitely not an option. Not with Kiabaou and Lind there. Maru was also no leader and was a blind follower of Diavel. Or ... staying in the 1st Floor and letting the other players clear the game was another option. There was no reason for her to fight anymore right? In fact was there even a reason for her to fight in the first place?

"What should I do ..."

"The only way to go, is forward."

Diavel's words came back to her. That's right! There was a reason for her to fight. Aiko was still back in the real world, likely worried sick and waiting for Yuuki. That was all the reason she needed. No need to look back anymore, all she had to do was face what was in front of her and go forward.

CONGRATULATIONS!

The notice pops up in Yuuki's view, signifying that the Boss had finally been defeated. XP and Col were awarded, raising Yuuki's level from 6 to 8 in one go. Players began cheering and celebrating as Illfang the Kobold Lord had been vanquished by the black-haired swordsman.

"Why!"

Kiabaou's wail echoed loudly in the huge chamber.

"Why did you let Diavel die! You knew all the Boss's skills didn't you! That's why you can block all its attacks!"

The seed of dissent was sown. The players had stopped enjoying their victory and began muttering amongst themselves.

"H-He must be a Beta Tester! He knows everything about this game yet he hid it all from us!"

Lind also began adding fuel to the fire. This was getting worse and worse with every loud shout.

"This is all the Beta Testers fault! If they had come with us today, we could have all lived! Its all because of the Beta Testers!"

The players were now riled up and it would be impossible to stem to tide of anger towards the beta testers and the black-haired swordman at this point. However, the Boss Room is suddenly silenced by maniacal laughter. The black-haired swordsman made sure that the spotlight was on him before stopping his laugh and beginning.

"Beta Testers? Don't lump me with the likes of those beginners. In the Beta Test, I am the one that reached floors no other Beta Testers could possibly dream of going to and thus, I know more than your everyday Information Broker."

He sneered and turned around, his attire changing into the rare Last Attack Bonus item he got, Coat of Midnight. The black coat gave him a chilling aura as he walked off towards the end of the Boss Room where the Teleport Gate to the next Floor waited.

"T-Thats unfair! You're worse than a Beta Tester!"

"A cheater! Cheater!"

Shouts of Beta Tester and Cheater were cried out at the lonely swordsman, occasionally fusing together to create a word that sounded like "Beater".

"Beater ... It has a nice ring to it. From now on, I am a Beater and you don't put me together with the weak Beta Testers."

Leaving a crooked mouth as he announces all that, the black swordsman turns and leaves for the 2nd Floor.

* * *

He was still a considerable distance from the town of Urbus where the 2nd floor teleport gate was when he heard rapid footsteps. Someone was following him. Is it Asuna? The black swordsman turns around but it was not the person he was expecting to see. It was the girl from Diavel's original party.

"Why ... why are you running? Why not defend yourself?"

Yuuki asks the black swordsman who turns around, hiding his face of disappointment as Yuuki had not understood his true intentions.

"Following a Beater like me. Foolish!"

Doing his best to sound intimidating, the black swordsman begins walking off towards Urbus.

"Oi! Don't ignore me!"

Yuuki shouts angrily at him but he ignores her, continuing to move onward.

*Shing*

The sound of a blade drawn provokes a reaction from the black swordsman as he hurriedly jumps back, turning to face her with his sword drawn as well.

"I'm mad now. Lets have a duel here."

"W-Wait. Why?"

"There are some things that can't be conveyed with words. Instead this will do the talking."

Yuuki's blade begins to light up blue as she gets into a Pre-Motion to activate a Sword Skill.

"Wait!"

The black swordsman shouts this time and Yuuki cancels the Sword Skill for the moment. His hands begin moving on the menu he just pulled down and after awhile, a message appears in Yuuki's view.

'Unknown player has challenged you to a duel! Mode: First Strike. Do you accept? Yes/No'

"Ohhh ... there was such a system for dueling?"

Yuuki stares at the message and then pulls down her own menu, searching for the buttons that would allow her to create duel requests. Meanwhile, her opponent covers his face with his left hand to show his disbelief as he had heard what she had said.

"Can we just get this over with?"

He was watching to entrance to the 2nd floor where the other players from the Boss Room will likely be coming up soon and meeting them after his performance would be very undesirable.

* * *

'I'll end this quickly.' The black swordsman thought as he watches Yuuki's movements, waiting for her to make the first move. Five seconds till the duel begins.

"So why didn't you defend yourself?"

Yuuki asks her opponent as she enters the Pre-Motion for the Sword Skill [Rage Spike]. He notices and recognises the motion, immediately coming up with a battle-plan in his head. Wait for the charge attack to come and parry it before it hits him. Then while she is stuck in the Cooling of the Swords Skill, hit her to end the duel. That was supposed to be the plan.

Zero! Duel Start!

'Too fast!'

She zoomed across the short distance between them way faster than he had anticipated and he hurriedly rolls to the side. There was no chance for a counter-attack now but at least he wasn't hit.

"Answer me!"

She was running to him and her blade glowed blue again, indicating another Sword Skill was activating which he could see was [Slant]. He was barely on his feet when the attack came and just like the earlier [Rage Spike], [Slant] was also swung at him at an unnatural speed, faster than what he had seen so far.

'She's boosting the speed with her own movements!' Aside from leaving it to the system assist to move your body for the Sword Skill, manually moving along with the motion shortens the time it takes for the skill to be cast but this is risky as any small mistake, any divergence from the original Sword Skill will cause it to cancel, putting it on Cooling and leaving you vulnerable. But from Yuuki there was no such mistake yet.

Sword Skill [Uppercut] was successfully used by him to parry the fast [Slant] and immediately, he follows it up with another Sword Skill [Horizontal].

'What's with this speed!'

Yuuki had recovered from the parry and with only a second to see the black swordsman's [Horizontal] coming at her, she had activated Sword Skill [Uppercut] to parry his attack. Unlike Yuuki however, he was unable to recover quickly enough as he watches her blade relight itself for yet another Sword Skill [Vertical] begins its downward arc. Without enough time to activate a Sword Skill, he swings his sword up.

*Ping*

Yuuki's Hunter's Fang flies out of her hands, landing a significant distance away from her. 'Chance!' The black swordsman lunges with his sword, the blade entering Yuuki's left shoulder.

'Winner : Unknown Player!'

"Ouch! That hurts you know!"

Falling onto the ground, Yuuki calls out to him while holding her left shoulder. Heaving a sigh, the black swordsman sheathes his sword.

"Back in the Boss Room, if I hadn't acted the way I did, not only I will be blamed but every Beta Testers. Better for me to shoulder all the blame."

'Oh' was what Yuuki thought. He was not running away but actually looking at the situation as a whole.

"Ha ha ... my bad that I didn't understand that."

She rubs her head as she says that, realising that she had been rather rude.

"Some things can't be conveyed through words right?"

He offers his hand to her to help her up and also to show that there were no hard feelings. Taking the hand, Yuuki gets back onto a feet, only to fall straight into the black swordsman, unable to move anymore.

"O-Oi. Are you okay?"

His voice sounded distance as the ground below Yuuki swayed. Her legs felt like jelly and it was suddenly hard to keep her eyes open.

With the adrenaline out of her body now, the past with nights of solo training resulting in a sore lack of sleep were taking its toll.

'Oh ... Its possible ... to be tired.'

Was her last thought as she faints in the hands of the confused black swordsman.

* * *

 **You have read to the end, well done. If you are confused by anything, drop a PM and I'll answer within two days! Enjoy your day and get hyped for the next Chapter!  
**

 **Spoilers for them people who can't access the Chapter 3 Beta Test (Author only!)**

 **Why did Yuuki lose! Martial Arts! Asuna+Yuuki action! Kirito being as dense as a rock! [More spoilers accessible only by people with Beta access]  
**

 **Additional P.S : I haven't decided but KiriAsu with Yuuki as fren or KiriYuu?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Wooo this chapter was slightly late cause I was at Anime Festival Asia SG (Bought too much SAO mercs for my own good ... _ ) but here we are! Sword Art Online Atarashi no Kisetsu Chapter 3! Received only one question thus far which is "What is the meaning of Atarashi no Kisetsu?" Ans: It means New Season (with Season refering to the 4 seasons Summer, Autumn ,Spring and Winter )**

 **Maybe because I wasn't specific with the reviews that I hoped to see, there was quite a lack of it ;-; (Or maybe the story is just still too new) So maybe I'll ask some specific questions now!**

 **Qns 1: What do you readers think of Yuuki at the moment? Too out of character? Hoping to see more?**

 **Qns 2: How is the original content? Is there too much canon or more originality is needed?**

 **Feel free to PM or leave a review (Bad ones will still face the wrath of my [Object Eraser]) and so, that'll be enough for now and so, proceed on to read!**

 **MINI-UPDATE: SORRY FOR THOSE WAITING FOR CHAPTER 4, I'VE RECENTLY LOSE ALL MY DRAFTS (PC BORKED ON ME) BUT IT'LL BE UP BY 8 DECEMBER. SORRY AGAIN!**

* * *

 **Chapter 3 : Whiskers of the Rat  
**

 **Urbus, December 4th, 14:00**

This was definitely not a good idea but his curiosity had got the better of him. Grabbing the hand of the unconscious girl, he held out her tiny, delicate index finger and swiped down, opening her menu. First, he would find out about her base stats and so he opened the status.

"Impossible."

The girl lying on the bed of the inn which he had brought her to after she blacked out was only level 8 which was 3 levels below him as he had leveled from 10 to 11 after getting the Last Attack on Illfang which granted him bonus EXP. Next, her stats point were allocated between Strength and Agility where there was a slightly higher emphasis on Agility but it confirms his theory that she had manually followed the system assist in order to speed up her Sword Skills. The last of the three stats in the game had no points allocated to them which made it surprising that she had survived thus far.

"Some Vitality will help you live you know …"

Maybe if it was not the base stats, then it was her equipment. Closing the menu, he continued manipulating her hand to open her equipment page and then tapping on her weapon.

"Never heard of this weapon. A unique but it has no enchantments?"

Her weapon, Hunter's Fang was behind his Anneal Blade in base stats but what shocked him was the lack of enchantments. His weapon had +6 (3S3D) enchantments* ((Explained at the end of chapter)) but that enhanced his PvE strength and are little help in a One Hit Duel. He was expecting at least a Speed enchantment but of course there was not even one enchantment of any type. Enchanting your equipment was a very important factor in order to proceed with the game as stronger equipment was usually hard to get and you would usually be stuck with older weaponry for quite awhile and enchanting helps make it viable as the going gets harder.

Behind him in terms of base stats and weapon stats plus the fact she was so heavily fatigued that she fainted, he had indeed only won that duel due to supreme stats and numbers. If not, he believed that she might have won due to her speed

"After Asuna it's another monster. Yuuki huh? Wait maybe it's the armor."

He directed the hand to the box which covered the player, Yuuki's upper armor when the hand he was controlling bunched up into a fist.

"T-This isn't what it see .."

*Smack*

The black swordsman's pleas were left unheard as he fell back, landing on the ground of the room. Eyes closed, one hand holding onto his cheek where it stinged from the blow, he shivered when he heard the sound of a sword drawn.

"P-Pervert! What did you think you were doing!"

Opening his eyes, he could see the girl seated up on the bed, her face flustered, left hand hugging her body protectively and finally between his eyes was her red blade, Hunter's Fang. While they were in the safe-zone where you can't damage other players, it was still scary to have a sharp weapon barely touching your nose.

"It's not what you think! I was just looking at your stats!"

No matter how he puts it however, it was clearly a breach of privacy. He was surprised that she had not used the system's Harassment Act in order to immediately bring punishment on him. She was looking at him skeptically when her eyes widened as she finally notices a blue window in her vision.

"Harassment Act?"

Crap. If she uses that, it was a trip down to the prisons of the Black Iron Castle for a few days. That would be precious time lost and with a new level open, the hunting grounds and Quests will be open for taking while the other players were busy getting adjusted to the 2nd Level.

"Wait! Please don't use that!"

The index finger of her left hand touches the blue window of the harassment act and swipes it to the side, removing the message.

"I'm sorry for attacking you out of nowhere so I'll let this go for now."

She sighs as she says that, sheathing her Hunter's Fang away.

"I'm Yuuki. Nice to meet Mr Black Pervert."

"It's Kirito. And I told you I wasn't doing anything!"

* * *

The 2nd Floor resembled a savanna plain with huge fields of yellowish grass and rocks of varying shapes and sizes. In the middle of the Floor stood a large crater and inside it was the town of Urbus. And in this town in one of the secluded alleyways which was hard to reach due to having only a few paths to access it and these paths are difficult to navigate without a map unless you had been there at least once, a certain swordsman emptied almost half of his wallet purchasing an extremely expensive delicacy from an unnamed NPC restaurant. He brings it outside to the table where Yuuki sat confused, wondering why Kirito had taken her through the maze-like city to this silent area.

"Oh ... that looks good!"

"This is a Tremble Shortcake. It's my apology to you, Yuuki."

It was a rather large sponge cake. It was 18 centimetres in radius and 8 centimetres in height. This dessert gets its name from one of its main ingredients, Tremble Milk which is acquired from hunting the Trembling cows in the area. Together with lots of gleaming white strawberry-flavoured cream covering it and topping it off with juicy bright red strawberries, it was a sweet-tooth's delight.

"H-How much does this cost?"

Kirito waves her question aside but seeing that she refused to eat until he gave her an answer, he sighs, wondering about the stubbornness of girls.

"Only a few thousand Col. Nothing to worry about."

A few thousand Col was enough to at least cover your meals for nearly a full week! It was everything to worry about!'

"The cake has a timed-life you know. Since I already bought it, just eat it."

His last attempt at getting her to eat it was finally success as she scoops up a small portion off the top of the Tremble Shortcake with a spoon and inserts it into her mouth. He grinned happily as he watches her expression slowly change as her wide eyes locked themselves on the cake.

"K-Kirito. You better take a bite b-before it's too late!"

Her hands were shaking as she said that, the spoon almost reaching the heavenly dessert. Kirito waves his hands to signal that she was free to eat away.

"You're actually not a bad guy! You're now Mr Friendly Pervert, Kirito."

* * *

"Oh god its so weird to walk next to you Mr Friendly Pervert."

"How long are you going to call me that ..."

"Tee hee! Who knows?"

Backtracking through the long winding alleyways, Kirito and Yuuki made their way back to the main square of the town of Urbus. Along the way, Kirito had removed his black coat "Coat of Midnight" and instead, his plain leather armor could be seen. He also donned a bright yellow bandana which looked strange and out of place on him. But this was to make him unrecognisable as the Beater, Kirito, who was one of the most despised players in Sword Art Online after the events of the 1st Floor Boss Room.

"How did you know about such a place?"

Yuuki points behind to the path they had just exited from as they walked towards the Teleport Gate of Urbus.

"Argo. Oh yeah, you should meet Argo, she's a..."

"When you say Argo, you mean the girl with whiskers like a mouse? Yeah I know Argo-chan."

"I won't need to explain that. In fact, I'm meeting her now but she's ... late."

The moment he said that last word, both he and Yuuki realised something was wrong. In the one month that had known Argo, there was one thing they were sure of. She was never ever late and always seems to be everywhere, doing business with just about any player. For a player like her, time was money.

"What time were you going to meet her?"

"4 PM ... Crap."

4:13 PM. Yuuki opens her menu to try and send a message but her hand is suddenly pulled by Kirito who begins running off towards the West Gates of Town.

"No time for a message. She's been through here recently."

Yuuki followed Kirito and they slowly sped up as Kirito moved faster having seen some strange signs. Using one of his skills, [Tracking] Kirito was able to see the path that Argo had taken through the town of Urbus in the form of green footprints created by his skill but it showed her running quickly as the color shading of the footprints was dark and she had also crossed over obstacles such as stacked boxes and a cart which Kirito almost ran into but was pulled aside by Yuuki. This was all signs that she was likely escaping some pursuer. They exited Urbus and were headed towards a dangerous part of the map that Kirito knew, was the spawning ground of large, cow-like monsters. He hastened his pace seeing that the footprints were becoming more clearly defined indicating that he was nearing Argo.

"...many times you ask, I'm not selling that information!"

The familiar nasal voice of Argo could be heard from behind a huge mound of rocks and Kirito slowly and carefully scales to the top of this small mountain to hopefully hide his presence from whoever Argo was talking to.

"We don't want to get violent! Just give us the information for the [Extra Skill] and we'll pay for it with money."

Nearing the top of the mini mountain, Kirito flattens himself against the rough surface as he pokes his head out. Auburn hair, a strange claw-like weapon on her right hand and a gauntlet with several over-sized nails attached to it and grey whiskers painted on her face, Argo stood opposite two figures with no escape as behind her was another mountain of rocks. The two figures who were likely her pursuers were dressed in dark grey armor with their head covered in a dark grey cloth leaving only the eyes. The small curved swords they carried behind their backs completed their image of a ninja. There was something familiar about them to Kirito but he could not figure out what it was. Also, an [Extra Skill] on the 2nd floor? This was not something he had heard of.

"Kirito don't go running of by yourself! Have you found Argo-chan?"

"Who is there?!"

As Yuuki stepped over the rocks and into visual range of the two ninjas, one of them throws a glowing blue knife towards Yuuki. Kirito would have pulled her down if he had not seen the red sword, Hunter's Fang leaving its scabbard from her side and glowing orange from the activation of the sword skill [Horizontal], it deflects the blue projectile and it flies off towards the fields. Everyone was stunned by what they had seen. With only a window of two seconds to respond after having seen the knife thrown at her, she had reflexively blocked it. Yuuki stood on the top of the rocks, looking blankly below her at the shocked ninjas and Argo. Suddenly she seems to realise that she had been attacked and she waves her arms as she falls backwards and down the rocks.

"Owww ... that was s-scary."

Yuuki called up to Kirito as she ventilates heavily with a hand over her rapidly beating heart. Seeing that she was fine, Kirito jumps into the fray, landing between Argo and the two ninjas.

"Kii-bou! You're late! And by the way that headband looks dreadful!"

Hurriedly, he reaches up to remove his yellow disguise before facing the ninjas again.

"Sorry Argo, you were running pretty fast. Besides ... these guys seem familiar. Something to do with ... Fo ... Food ... Foora?"

"We're from the guild {Fūmaningun}"

{Fūmaningun}. Kirito finally remembered why these ninjas seemed so familiar. Back in the Sword Art Online Close Beta Test which Kirito was lucky to be a part of, their guild was specialised in their members following the Path of the Ninja which aside from the dress code and weapons, their stats were focused only on one of the three parameters of the game, agility. They were ridiculously fast and were often the skirmishers, dealing quick bursts of damage and retreating with their speed.

"Step aside, we only want the information and would not want to be hurting you."

Both ninjas reached behind, their hands holding onto the hilts of the curved swords behind their backs. Kirito also reaches for his sword, Anneal Blade, behind his back.

This is bad. They were out in the open and not in a town meaning that there wasn't an Anti-Criminal Code to prevent players from attacking each other. The party that attacked first would gain orange cursors which unlike the normal green cursors of every other players, bared them from entering town a few days for committing a Crime and becoming a Criminal. But did the other party know the consequences? Plus are they actually going to try and kill him and Argo?

Kirito thought anxiously as he retreated and not before long, he had retreated to where Argo was.

"Pst ... Any ideas on how to get out of this mess?"

Argo shook her head at Kirito's question but then she snapped her fingers.

"Oi you guys from your Ninja Clan, I'll give you the information for free ... on a condition."

It could be said that it was a miracle that the Rat had actually used the word "free". The two ninjas halted their advance and they beckon for Argo to continue.

"If you beat the girl behind you in a 1 vs 1 duel, you'll get your reward. If not, you leave us alone."

The girl would be Yuuki who was climbing over the rocks to reach them. The girl who had shown them inhuman reaction speed by deflecting a thrown knife barely seconds after she had seen it. Also, in a duel, the ninjas had a disadvantage as their emphasis on AGI meant their weapons were limited to no STR requirement ones which did not deal much damage and they also had no VIT meaning their HPs were very low, only living off the amount they got from leveling up.

"If you still have doubts, it is a First Strike duel."

That tipped the scales. With their AGI, they can dodge better than an ordinary balanced player and have more accuracy and speed when attacking. Grinning beneath their cloth masks, they felt that Argo had given them a free win and along with it, free information which they had tried a full month to obtain from her. ((They also tried to get the information from her during the Beta Test))

"We accept on those conditions. Be sure to honor your word."

* * *

"Argo what's with this idea?"

"Trust me Kii-bou. You already saw how fast she was."

That scene with Yuuki knocking the knife cleanly out of the air was still fresh in Kirito's head as well as the duel he had with her just after the 1st Floor Boss Room. She was indeed fast, the smoothness of her Pre-Motion with enabled her to perfectly use the [Sword Skills] to a terrifying degree and add to the fact that she moves herself to assist in the motion to create her lightning fast attacks. It reminded him of a certain rapier user that he had not seen since the 1st Floor Boss Room.

The countdown enlarged as it reached 15 seconds. It would not be long before the duel began. On the defending side was Yuuki as Argo's champion, her red longsword, Hunter's Fang, glinted with the rays of the late afternoon sun. On the attacking side was the ninja who had thrown the knife, being the senior of the two representing his guild of ninjas,{Fūmaningun}. His thin, long curved sword which closely resembled a katana spun in silver circles as its owner warmed up.

5 seconds. Both duelers entered their stances with Yuuki entering a defensive stance, her longsword held with both hands and her opponent going into a low crouch like a sprinter preparing to go off the moment the starting gun fired.

Duel Start!

The ninja was off, his blade glowing bright orange for the One-Handed Curved Sword Skill [Reaver] (1-Hit Charge type attack). Boosted by his high AGI, he quickly closed the distance and underneath his mask, he smiled confidently. In the Guild {Fūmaningun}, he was one of the top few players in it due to his experience as a Beta Tester and also having the highest skill level with One-Handed Curved Swords which resulted in him getting picked for the job of getting information on the [Extra Skill] of the 2nd Floor.

"How?!"

His smile was lost, his confidence shattered as his attack was parried by Yuuki's Sword Skill [Uppercut]. He was now behind his opponent and there was a small cut on his cheek where Uppercut had grazed him. Luckily, he was not out of the fight as First Strike Mode required a clean hit to name a winner. Throwing caution to the wind, he charges at Yuuki, his blade glowing a dark red for another One-Handed Curved Sword Skill [Beat-down] (1-Hit Vertical Slash) but it was met with Yuuki's swift Sword Skill [Vertical] and both of them are knocked by the impact of their swords colliding. As he tried to steady himself from the knockback, he immediately rolls sideways as Yuuki flew by, propelled by her Sword Skill [Rage Spike]. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead as he realised that the situation was turning sour.

"No choice."

He muttered as he decides that he had to use his last resort. Turning around to face Yuuki who just got off the Post-Motion of [Rage Spike], he activates a One-Handed Sword Skill and his blade lights up with golden yellow colors.

* * *

"I thought your previous partner was a monster but this is quite ridiculous."

Argo comments to Kirito beside him who would agree with her after the spectacle they watching before them.

"Argo. You probably already know but even if Yuuki wins, they won't go away quietly."

Grinning, Argo slaps Kirito on the back as she had a solution to that problem.

"No worries. I have a plan for that ... and crap. That guy has quite a high skill level for Curved Swords."

Kirito and Argo both shared the same worry as they recognised the yellow Sword Skill that the ninja was using. [Slice and Dice], a 2-Hit Horizontal Combo which required a considerable skill level to be available for use. With just about every early Sword Skill being a single hit attack, a combo was going to be extremely difficult to block.

"Her only hope would be to dodge but ..."

It was Argo's turn to receive a pat to the back as Kirito reassures her.

"Yuuki will win. I know it."

"How do you sound so sure unless ... you've dueled her already?"

Kirito was a good swordsman. Hell, he was probably one of the best in Sword Art Online as of now and in the Beta Test, Argo remembered him as one of the more active testers fighting on the higher levels whereas most others spent their time on the lower levels. Crazy reaction speeds, a buttload of experience and a pro MMO gamer.

"I would have lost if she was in top form."

"Whoa ... to think that Kii-bou was backed to a corner."

'What kind of monster would she be in the future.' Argo thought as she returns her attention to the duel.

* * *

It was the same feeling back when she was battling the Ruin Kobold Sentinals in the 1st Floor Boss Room. This strange uplifting emotion was also present in her duel with Kirito. Prior to this in her solo hunting sessions in the middle of the night, this rapid beating of her heart was never there. It was not a bad feeling. Rather, Yuuki felt very awake, like a bucket of ice cold water had been poured over her and everything was very clear. There was something exciting about feeling the recoil on her sword as she clashed with others, her lustrous black hair flowing as she danced around the battlefield blissfully, engaging in a battle with life and death. This feeling was the thrill of battle.

As the ninja charged at her, his curved sword glowing yellow, the feeling intensified. Time seemed to slow around her as the first slash from the Sword Skill [Slice and Dice] came and to counter, Yuuki's body moves smoothly and efficiently to create the Pre-Motion for Sword Skill[Horizontal], parrying the first slash but that was not the end as [Slice and Dice] was a 2-hit combo, the 2nd slash was coming but the Post-Motion for [Horizontal] was setting in.

I won't lose!

While her body was trapped in Post-Motion, Yuuki's fingers moved quickly, changed the position of her sword and the system registers it as the Hunter's Fang's color transitioned from the orange of [Horizontal] to the blue of another Sword Skill.

Impossible! Was the thought on everyone's mind as they watched the miracle happen before them. Yuuki has simultaneously chained two skills one after another without the delay of Pre-Motion in between them, something which was supposed to not be possible

The Hunter's Fang's color transitioned from the orange of [Horizontal] to the blue of another Sword Skill which knocked aside the 2nd slash of [Slice and Dice]. The duelers were briefly stuck in Pre-Motion before they jumped back facing each other.

"Darn! What are you?!"

The ninja shouts with crazed eyes as his body enters the low crouch again and his curved sword illuminates with orange. [Reaver] had come of cooling and it was the only thing he could think of in this desperate situation. Charging forward with his skill, it was yet again parried by a quick [Uppercut] but the color of Yuuki's blade transforms from the purple of [Uppercut] to the blue of [Vertical]. This time Kirito caught the movement that allowed her to do this ridiculous skill chaining. At the end of [Uppercut], before Post-Motion set in, her fingers were already moving to reposition the sword for another Pre-Motion and the system assist had acknowledged the activation. Twisting her body to follow the motion of the ninja, the blazing blue sword left a long red gash on his back ending the duel.

* * *

"Alright you guys lost, now leave."

Argo commanded but she was only met with defiance as both stood up, reaching behind for their weapons, provoking Yuuki to do the same.

"Oi you guys! We gave you the chance to heal up before leaving! Who said about honoring their word?"

Yuuki receives a pat on her shoulder and she turns around, seeing Argo with a grin on her face as she shows Yuuki a thumbs-up, a sign for "I'll handle this".

"You had your chance. Kirito, now!"

From behind Argo, Kirito dashes out, a bottle in hand as he tosses its contents at the ninjas. Stinky green liquid dirties their grey outfits but otherwise, they seemed unharmed. Now clearly fuming in anger, they drew their curved swords.

"MOOOO!"

Behind them was a huge bull-like monster, Trembling Ox. Two and a half metres in size, it was a very dangerous monster due to its powerful charge and its unrelenting behavior where it would not stop attacking a single player once it had set a target. And this Trembling Ox had its sights forcefully locked on two targets covered in monster bile, an item which taunts monsters to attack whatever the bile is on and now its the two ninjas. Throwing their swords aside in a panic, they made a mad dash towards the direction of Urbus with the Trembling Ox chasing after them.

"Would they be alright?"

Yuuki was watching this scene in somewhat amazement and a slight tinge of worry but Argo dismisses this with a wave of her hand.

"Their AGI is pretty high so they can easily outrun that bull though it won't stop chasing them till their back in town."

* * *

 **North West of the 2nd Floor, near the end of the map, December 4th, 17:23**

Having received an oath from both the curious Kirito and Yuuki, Argo then proceeds to lead them towards where they would find the [Extra Skill] Quest.

"I don't like holding favors."

They were led through mountains and narrow ledges, across high cliffs and deep valleys. After a long journey lasting almost an hour, they finally entered a cave after avoiding many along the way and inside this cave, the sounds of a water falling could be heard and as they traveled deeper inside, it opened up. The right side of the open area in the cave was missing walls thus, the evening light of the sun shone through, illuminating the place. A large lone tree could be seen growing in the middle of a small patch of grass in the middle of the cave and beside it was a straw hut. At the back of the cave were a few springs, some freezing cold while others steaming hot.

"Get over here both of you."

Argo was at the hut, holding the door open while gesturing to Kirito and Yuuki who were still looking around the cave. They caught up to Argo who entered the hut and inside was a big, well muscled man with a bald head, sitting on his rocking armchair with a gold "?" above his head signifying a Quest.

"Well here it is. The Extra Skill Quest for [Martial Arts]. Whether you want to accept or not is up to you."

Martial Arts sounded like a valuable skills as the weapons in Sword Art Online had durability values and the weapons can be destroyed through use so in an emergency, Martial Arts would be useful. Another context might be if you were disarmed, Martial Arts made sure you weren't completely defenseless. After a brief conversation, the "?" on the NPC changed to a "!" indicating the Quest was under way.

"Young disciples, follow me."

The NPC gets onto his feet and leaves his hut with the three following behind him. He leads them to a corner of the cave where there were rocks of a slightly different color than what you normally saw. It was slightly bluish and a metre in height and diameter.

"If thou wishes to learn my arts, they must split these rocks with thy bare hands."

Was that even possible? Kirito goes to tap the rocks and he nods to Yuuki indicating it was possible but.

"It's going to be difficult ... I think we should quit."

"Err ... Kii-bou, Yuu-chan. I take no responsibility and remember, no grudges."

Argo speaks up as the NPC approaches Kirito and Yuuki, a bottle in his left hand and an elegant looking brush in his right.

"Until you are finished with your task, you may not leave these mountains nor remove this mark!"

Before either could react, the brush had entered the bottle, coming out dripping with ink and then their faces were mercilessly attacked by the NPC. With that, the mystery of Argo's whiskers had been solved.

* * *

 **Cave of the Master, December 4th 21:50**

Hands sore from hammering the stone, they laid on the grass beneath the tree. Argo had already left them moments after they began their impossible task and now, Kirito and Yuuki were too fatigued to continue.

"Mr Friendly Pervert, please keep your hands off me while you sleep."

"As I told you before, that was not my intention!"

Hearing a giggle from the opposite side of the tree where Yuuki was currently occupying, Kirito sighs and looks towards the open area of the cave which revealed the night sky.

"Yuuki ... can I ask you a question?"

"If its about my three sizes, I'll rename you to Mr Lolicon Pervert. I'm only twelve you know."

Kirito was caught off guard and he tries to get up but only succeeded in headbutting the tree. From behind it, hysterical laughter could be heard from a little girl who had too much fun teasing an innocent boy.

"Y-You know you're not supposed to tell people about your IRL self."

Opps. Yuuki just realised she told him her age but then again, Argo wasn't here to scold her.

"I trust you. So anyways while you're not falling over yourself Mr Lolicon, what's your question?"

"Do you hate me? I did let your brother, Diavel die ..."

"I don't. As long as you're still fighting I guess you are living his final wish, Save everyone."

Kirito sighs yet again but this time he sounded relieved, like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"Thanks Yuuki. We'll get out of this soon."

"No problem Mr Perverted Lolicon."

* * *

 **Cave of the Master, December 5th 10:31**

A day has passed there seemed to be no progress at all. The rock had barely a crack on it even after Kirito had spent over 8 hours on it. It felt like they were doing more damage to themselves than to the rock. Going over to the springs where Yuuki was currently resting her own bruised hand, he did not notice the two newcomers entering the cave.

"Kii-bou! Yuu-chan! I've brought Aa-chan here on her request!"

Beside Argo who had returned was a cloaked figure who removed her hood, revealing silky chestnut long hair and beneath it, an angelic face with beautiful hazel eyes.

"Kirito-san, to think you were over here. I spent a whole day searching for you, you know."

Arms crossed, her piercing glare got Kirito nervous as she approached him. After his time with her on the 1st Floor, they didn't have some of the most pleasant memories.

"Ohhh Kirito! I didn't know you have such a beautiful girlfriend!"

Yuuki calls out towards the group as she returns from the springs. Immediately, both Kirito and "Aa-chan's" face turned bright red like an apple.

"Yuuki! It's not like that between me and Asuna!"

Shrugging, she heads towards the rocks to continue her attempt to break it.

"As you say Sir Lolicon! Nice to meet you Asuna!"

Kirito swore that he saw he mischievous grin as Yuuki turned around. However, he had bigger problems.

"Kii-bou ... this Onee-san is disappointed in you."

Argo shakes her head trying to sound disappointed though like Yuuki, there was an impish expression on her. She waves good bye and good luck to Kirito before leaving the cave again, her job finished.

"T-T-To a little girl like her ... Kiritoooo!"

There was only one way for him to escape the furious girl and that was up! Kirito hurriedly scrambles up the tree and barely in time as Asuna's hand grabs one of his boots and pulls it off but not him along with it.

"Get down here Kirito! You need some discipline!"

"Asuna this is not what it seems! Yuuki!"

At the rocks, the sound of a young twelve old girl laughing her heart out could be heard.

* * *

 **Cave of the Master, December 5th, 11:00, after calming down an angry demon named Asuna**

Deeming that it was finally safe to leave his sanctuary on the top of the tree after making Asuna understand that Yuuki was joking (mostly), he climbs down and confronts Asuna.

"Me and Agil-san were worried about you. I mean we both understood it was an act but taking it all on yourself must be harsh."

Scratching his head, Kirito did not know how to answer due to his status as an introvert for the past years of his life. Asuna saves him by continuing.

"So what we both want to say is ... thank you. Agil-san probably wants to also thank you in person too. We all would have died to the boss if not for you."

Ah darn ... it was strange getting thanked. Was what Kirito thought though he did feel happy.

"By the way, what are you and ... her doing here?"

Asuna gestures towards where Yuuki was hitting away at the rock with her bare fists.

"Argo never told you? Its the Extra Skill Quest for Martial Arts."

Following Kirito into the hut, Asuna talks to the NPC before being directed like Kirito and Yuuki to where the rocks were.

"I never asked but, what's with the make-up?"

'Oh crap.' Kirito had forgotten all about that and glancing over at the NPC, the ink and the brush were ready. With only three seconds before the inevitable happened, Kirito ran for safety at the top of the tree.

"Kiri ... KYAAA! What is this ... KIRITOOOO!"

* * *

 **Cave of the Master, December 5th, 13:25**

"Yuuki-chan right? I'm Asuna."

The beautiful girl held her hand out to Yuuki who shook it.

"Yuuki's enough Asuna. So is Kirito really your boyfriend?"

A disgusted expression appears on Asuna's face as she waves the notion aside.

"Never. Did he really do nothing to you?"

A gleeful smile showed through Yuuki's face as she says her next line while sounding nervous

"Well ... he did play with my hand for quite awhile."

"Yuuki! I told you I was ju..."

"Quiet you criminal! Get back to work."

Kirito returned his gaze to the rock as he continued hammering seeing that his opinion was not wanted plus, tangling with Asuna had already proved to be dangerous.

*Grrrrr*

Yuuki's stomach releases a cute rumbling sound signalling that she was hungry.

"Try one."

Asuna had taken a basket out of her inventory and from inside it, she pulled out a sandwich. It looked weird however with purple and pink vegetables sticking out of the sides. But since she was so hungry, Yuuki accepted the mystery sandwich and takes a large chunk of it. Surprisingly despite its strange appearance, it was ...

"Delicious! Woaw Asuda, wheruf di gu gef dit?"

Her next sentence was near illegible as she had the sandwich stuffed into her mouth. Asuna beside seemed a lost for words but then seeing how Yuuki looked, she giggled lightly.

"Finish your food first Yuuki-ch ... Yuuki."

For a short moment, when Yuuki turned to face Asuna, it was instead her sister, Aiko seated beside her. But that moment vanished instantly and Asuna's face returned.

"Sorry. Where did you get it, Asuna?"

With a voice filled with pride, Asuna puffs out her chest as she proudly tells Yuuki.

"I made it."

When Yuuki tilted her head in curiosity, Asuna continued explaining.

"Ever since I tried eating something aside from hard bread on the 1st Floor, I wondered if taste is replicated in this world so I picked up the Cooking Skill."

Asuna glanced briefly in the direction of the rocks where Kirito stood. He chose that moment to turn around and peek at the two girls again and met Asuna's gaze but what interested him more was the second sandwich that Yuuki pulled out of a basket on Asuna's lap.

"A-Asuna-sama ... can I have one?"

Mouth open, saliva dripping from the corners of it, he had his hands put together as if in prayer as he begs Asuna. It was a cute sight for both girls as they laughed merrily.

"Just one."

'After all, I owe it to you for the cream.'

* * *

 **Cave of the Master, December 6th 19:30**

Two long days have passed but the rock was still as unbreakable as when they had started. Except this time, the rock was covered with several marks of black ink crosses. These represented where Kirito had already hit and after more than 30 hours already, about 80% of the rock was painted black with crosses.

"Not far now."

Unless his guess was wrong. That it was not hitting a specific point on the rock but instead something else like a proper pose or maybe the answer was even simpler.

"Whoaa Asuna! Your skin is so white!"

"Y-Yuuki! No!"

From the springs, in particular the steaming pool which was hidden behind the rocks except for an entrance that faced away from the cave and out of Kirito's view, both girl's were taking a break with a bath together.

"Ow ... Not there as well I guess."

Swinging his right hand which had just punched the rock, his left index finger, covered in black ink goes to mark the spot he had hit but it stops short of the rock as a miraculous sight unfolds. Starting from where he had hit, cracks spread from the top and bottom of the impact zone, disappearing at the top of the rock and suddenly, there is a loud crash as two halves of the rock fall onto the ground.

"Ye-YESS! Asuna! Yuuki! I did it! I ..."

In his excitement to tell them the news, he forgot that they were bathing in the hot spring. From within the white steam, he heard two loud screams and then, two shadowy figures were closing in one him fast.

"KIRITOOOOO! Pervert!"

He was one of the few that climbed to the higher levels in the Beta Test. He had braved the fields of the 1st Floor solo. He was the one that defeated the 1st Floor Boss Illfang. But tangling with two angry girls was way worse than what he had faced thus far. There was only one option, retreat back to his haven on the top of the lonely tree.

* * *

 **Bonus Chapter 1 : Agil and Argo**

 **An Inn in Urbus, December 7th, 10:30**

"Good morning. I assume you are the Rat?"

Across Argo was Agil, the huge chocolate colored man with a bald head and gigantic rippling muscles. A real hulk that scared almost everyone thusfar but Argo the Rat was unfazed, continuing with her confident speech

"That's right. And you are Agil, I saw you around on the 1st Floor. So what business do you want with me?"

"I wish to know the whereabouts of a male player named Kirito and also of a girl named Yuuki."

'Oh ho ho.' Argo knew where they were. Trapped in the cave for the Extra Skill Quest, Martial Arts which was mostly her fault. It was a piece of information she was previously not willing to sell but seeing the reactions of Kirito, Yuuki and Asuna, she had second thoughts.

"Sure. The price is 50,000 Col."

She said it directly without any pause that it took Agil and his party members to show a reaction. While Agil only raised his eyebrows, his five party members exclaimed in surprise.

"Is the price ... negotiable?"

"You can try."

Argo says nonchalantly as other players had tried this before but ended up almost raising the original price. However there was a glint in Agil's brown eyes as a fire was ignited inside.

"Aren't you surprised that we had called you?

"I was. How did you even find me?"

In reply, Agil takes an item out of his inventory. It was the guidebook that every shop gave up on the 1st Floor. The cover page had a black symbol resembling a mouse's face. At the bottom was written "Argo Strategy Guide, want to find her? Read on!"

"Not bad. But the price remains the same."

"At least commend our efforts for finding you. 45,000 Col."

Tch. Argo clearly made the sound as she realised she was getting swayed ever so slightly. This man was no joke when it came to the business of bartering.

"47,000 Col."

"We might be working together more in the future. What's the point of scaring away potential customers like myself?"

The confident grin on Agil's face was a stark contrast to Argo's annoyed frown. No longer with her confident voice, she sounded slightly threatening and dark.

"40,000 Col."

"Unless it was say, 30,000 Col, I'm afraid we'll have to end business for today and probably in the future."

Visibly biting her nails now, Argo was going to give in to Agil when a message popped up in front of her. Looking down to hide her mischievous smile, she returns to face Agil with a dissatisfied frown on her face.

"Alright you win. I'll make that 10,000 Col only."

"Woah! That's Agil-san for us!"

"Nice one Agil!"

His party members were cheering at their victory over negotiations and patting Agil in the back who had a triumphant expression.

"Alright that's 10,000 Col. Kii-bou and Yuu-chan you say?"

Argo could not longer hold it in and she was smiling gleefully as she points behind Agil and his party. Their happy atmosphere broken by that unsettling smile, they turned around towards the door of the Inn where Kirito, Yuuki and Asuna walked in, looking tired after spending 3 days to get the Extra Skill. Behind them, the Rat had already left through a backdoor, satisfied with business for the day.

* * *

 **THE END, hope you enjoyed Chapter 3 + The Bonus Chapter! Now of course at the end there must always be spoilers for hype! (P.S How was the Bonus Chapter? Want moar or should these not even exist? [Neko holds Object Eraser at the ready])  
**

 **Sooo *drum roll* next up on Sword Art Online : Atarashi no Kisetsu**

 **Angry bulls monsters! The return of Kiabaou and Lind! Golden boxers! A parting at the crossroads!**

 ***Oh dear I forgot about the enchantment thing xD**

 **So here it is! There are five enchantment types, sharpness (S), quickness (Q), accuracy (A), heaviness (H) and durability(D)**

 **Anneal Blade +6 (3S3D) = 3 sharpness + 3 durability enchantments**

 **The names of the enchantments should be self-explanatory :D (If they aren't, errr ... you're beyond my help ;-; saynora!)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Before I start this off, I apologise to all those who had been waiting a long time for this Chapter. It has been two weeks which is a very long time! I actually have about 4 drafts for this story and they were mostly trying to follow the story as depicted in the Sword Art Online Progressive Series (Nezha and the Legend Braves stuff) but after writing them, I was never satisfied. I got quite depressed as nothing new came into my head. I pretty much gave up on writing for about five days till one of my IRL friends asked my to instead, try a separate project to maybe get inspiration.  
**

 **That project is now another fanfiction for Sword Art Online (Sword Art Online:Kurohime) and after that, I finally had an idea of what to write so, lets begin my usual greetings.**

 **YO FELLOW BETA TESTERS AND ORDINARY PLAYERS. WE ARE BACK WITH CHAPTER 4 OF Sword Art Online:Atarashi no Kisetsu (Insert Crossing Fields Music here) This chapter is shorter than the rest but now that it's finally done, I can move on and write more about the parts which I anticipate you're all waiting (After all, what's a SAO fanfic without Moonlight Black Cats).**

 **I will say sorry to everyone again but I can promise you! I will not give up on this series (nor my other one) till it is done!**

 **P.s Releases may be slower as I have to manage two fanfics now**

* * *

 **Chapter 4 : A Dance with Death**

 **Outskirts of Urbus, December 7th, 15:56**

"Yuuki, switch!"

Kirito shouted as he activated the Sword Skill [Horizontal] to knock aside the horns which threatened to impale him. Briefly stunned by having its head knocked to the side, the Bullbous Cow shakes it head, trying to clear its headache but just when its vision cleared, in front of it was a girl flying towards him with the help of the Sword Skill [Sonic Leap], a 1-Hit charge attack that ends with a downward slash. Unable to move anymore due to losing all of its HP, its legs buckled and it exploded into the familiar green polygons of death.

They had been hunting for about three hours already and there were some results from it. Kirito had leveled from 11 to 12 and Yuuki leveling from 8 to 10 which earned her two skill slots, a Combat slot and a non-Combat slot. Already, her first Combat slot was used for One-Handed Swords skills which should be no surprise and her second was occupied with a skill which she took under Argo's recommendation previously, [Tracking] which she had already seen Kirito put into good effect when they were looking for Argo. Martial Arts occupied the third Combat slot so now with a fourth one, she could increase her own combat capabilities.  
"Nice job! We got something Kirito!"

Twisting her menu around, she showed the item to Kirito who nodded as he knew what it was but then he sighes, looking downcast.

"[Bullbous Beef] is a rather uncommon meat and I heard its as tasty as its real counterparts but we need someone with the [Cooking Skill] the make it taste as good ... too bad Asuna left."

Asuna had left earlier to meet with a certain "Heathcliff" she was supposed to meet a day ago if she had not been trapped with Kirito and Yuuki at the Cave of the Master. She was someone with a decently leveled [Cooking Skill] that could easily cook up their new [Bullbous Beef] excellently.

"Wait Kirito, I think I can cook it."

"Seriously? If you can that's great."

Turning the menu back to face her, she opened her Status menu and under the skills list, she tapped the empty [Non-Combat Skill] icon and from the small list of available options she found the one she needed, the [Cooking Skill]. From her items list, Yuuki pulled out a [Fire Starter] item which she had bought from Urbus and with the help of Kirito who had gathered a small pile of dry leaves and sticks from the nearby wildlife, they had a campfire ready to cook the [Bullbous Beef].

"Errr ... Kirito how do you do this?"

Materialising the slab of red meat which was about 20 centimetres wide, 10 centimetres thick and 10 centimetres high in her hands, she tilts her head as she asks Kirito who then frowns, suddenly having doubts about whether this was a good idea.

"W-Why are you asking me? You're the cook! You should know what you're doing?"

Sitting around the campfire, lost and confused, Yuuki uses her Hunter's Fang as a skewer and holds it above the fire much to the disdainful stare from Kirito.

"Are you sure this is how you're supposed to ... Woah! Was that supposed to happen?"

Yuuki's sword was enveloped in flames as the [Bullbous Beef] ignites. Panicking, she throws her sword into the air and it lands point first into the ground in front of Kirito who rapidly crawls back as the flaming meat was right in front of his face. The fire eventually fizzled out, leaving behind the black husk of what was formerly fresh food before it was defiled.

"I-It can't be that bad ... right? Why not try one ... please?"

Beckoning for Kirito to take a bite, he gulps before carefully approaching the sword with the "Cooked" [Bullbous Beef] on it. Peeling of a piece, it looked ready to crumble into ash as he slowly puts it into his mouth with a shaking hand. After a bit of chewing, there was a reaction as Kirito winced before swallowing down. With a shaky voice, he looked at Yuuki who had a "How was it?" written across her face.

"G-Get a few more levels into that Cooking Skill first ..."

* * *

 **An Inn in Urbus, December 7th, 20:04**

After the disaster of Yuuki's first time cooking in Sword Art Online, they had continued grinding the fields around Urbus which brought Kirito close to leveling to level 13 and Yuuki becoming level 11. They had also managed to acquire two more pieces of [Bullbous Beef] which both of them decided they would boil one when they returned to Urbus because after all, how can there be an accident from boiling water? Was what Kirito thought dejectedly as he sat opposite Yuuki and in between them was another black husk resembling the monstrosity from earlier in the day, the boiled [Bullbous Beef].

"I-I did nothing wrong!"

"Yuuki ... how did you get the water to catch fire?"

Having borrowed the kitchen of the Inn from the NPCs in charge of the place, Yuuki had prepared a pot of water and placed it above the stove. Finally, she put the [Bullbous Beef] inside and all seemed to be going well as the water began foaming indicating it was boiling. Then, everthing went wrong as the [Bullbous Beef] burst into flames just like back at the campfire and soon, the pot was covered in flames and finally, the kitchen decided to join the fun as the rest of the food inside catches the sparks and flames creating a firestorm but by then, the Inn was already evacuated.

"At least no one died right! Stupid pervert Kirito!"

While she understood it was her fault that they both had to pay alot of Col to the NPCs for the damages they had caused, she hated to admit that she was wrong and so she acted like she was sulking. It worked however as Kirito sighs, thinking that he might have been a bit too mean and untactful with his comments. Bravely reaching for the "Boiled" [Bullbous Beef], he goes to take a bite, frowning as he chewed on the meat.

"I'll be waiting for when you cook this right. So ... cheer up."

It was a promise.

* * *

 **An Inn in Urbus, December 8th, 09:00  
**

"Thank you all for gathering here today. It must have taken a great deal of courage for you to come here and also for the battle later so once again, thank you."

Agil spoke to the assembly of players gathered. Forty-three of them without their previous leader, Diavel, had gathered today on the request of the brown giant, Agil who had taken the reins of leadership and he was doing a good job at that. After the 1st Floor Boss battle, he had gained the respect of the raid party for being steadfast when the situation was dire and was also naturally charismatic thus to Kirito, Asuna and Yuuki, it was no surprise to learn that he was the new leader of the forward movement but the surprise was that he had sought after them to invite them for the 2nd Floor Boss battle.

After what happened at the end of the 1st Floor, they had expected to be treated indifferently (for Kirito, it would be venomously) but Agil had convinced most of the raid party that their assistance was necessary and he had managed to get a few, mostly his party and some other members to understand Kirito's actions and they were the ones who were grateful to Kirito and Asuna for their bravery in the Boss Battle. Yuuki's actions while not noticed by many, were seen by Agil and had impressed him thus, she was also another necessary member to the raid party.

Kiabaou, Lind and Maru from Diavel's original group were also among the raid party although they seemed to be split up. Seated with 11 others wearing khaki-green colored armor including himself, Kiabaou glared daggers at Lind and his party of also 11 people, wearing light-blue colored armour. Maru was alone in the middle of the crowd of remaining players with their assorted colored armor, not belonging to either group.

"Something happened?"

Kirito poked Agil as he pointed to Kiabaou and Linds' factions who seemed hostile towards each other.

"Ah them. Kiabaou-san joined an organisation from the 1st Floor which calls themselves the Army while Lind-san plans to create a Guild with his current party once the Quest is available. But now, they seem to be having disagreements."

The reason for their hostility was because of their difference in personalities and their mediator, Diavel was no longer here. Each considered the other the weak cowardly one and thus, their paths diverge leading to the bad relations between both parties.

Standing up and towering over the Assembly, everyone fell silent as their attention returned to Agil.

"Yesterday, Kiabaou-san and Lind-san with their parties had found the Labyrinth of the 2nd Floor."

For a simple refresher, the Labyrinth was usually the Entrance to a series of dungeons with several floors that eventually led to the Boss Room of the Floor as well as the passage to the next floor.

"They have both cleared ... the field-boss guarding the Labyrinth and thus tomorrow, we shall enter and go after the boss of this level."

Agil seemed abit hesitant and maybe abit disapproving as he mentioned about both Kiabaou and Lind killing the field-boss. This was due to the fact that there were nearly casualties while fighting the field-boss, [Bullbous Bow] due to the poor teamwork and co-ordination from both sides. Because of the bad relationship between both leaders, their party members had also adopted similar attitudes resulting in them being more of a danger to each other than the boss to them. They had finally managed to defeat the Boss with Lind acquiring the Last Attack Bonus, [Bulky Hammer] which was now sheathed behind his back making Kiabaou all the more sour as he glared at Lind.

"From the guide which Argo-san had kindly provided us all, we have information for the boss of this floor all the way to the 10th Floor. Unlike the first floor, there is a boss and a sub-boss, no minions. They are called Baran the General Taurus and Nato the Colonel Taurus."

Agil then proceeded to read out the boss's attack patterns in detail and also warning the raid party of the special move which both boss's use, [Numbing Impact]. This attack consisted of the bosses raising their weapon, a huge hammer and would glow with yellow sparks before being slammed onto the ground seconds later. Those closest to the impact zone would take direct damage and also, the sparks will trail off from the hammer and any player that gets into contact with them gets stunned for 3 seconds. Worse, taking a hit from the bosses while stunned would change the status ailment to the more dangerous and restricting paralyze. The good part however, is that the boss would be stuck in Post-Motion after this skill which opens up the chance for a counterattack if there was anyone able to do so.

"Everyone got that? Next, we will split up with half of us taking on Baran while the reminder handle Nato. Kiabaou-san, Maru-san, Kirito and my party will battle Baran while the rest battle Nato. No objections?"

There was objection written clearly on Kiabaou's face as he glared at Kirito with hatred and his party seemed to also want to speak out against the arrangements but they all remained silent as the raid party nodded in response.

"Then an hour from now, we will meet outside the labyrinth and work our way up. Be well prepared as we will not be heading back to town. Dismissed!"

The raid group filled out of the Inn and back into Urbus, splitting up into their parties as they went to stock up on supplies and leave for the Labyrinth. In the dark corner of the Inn sat a woman who looked out for only one person of the raid group. The black-haired swordsman that to her eyes, killed Diavel.

* * *

 **Labyrinth of the 2nd Floor, 20th level, December 8th, 13:00**

Having left immediately for the dungeon as they had already made preparations before the meeting, Kirito, Asuna and Yuuki went through the dungeon quickly and easily, ascending through the many levels contained within the labyrinth before they reached the 20th level and just like on the 1st Floor, a huge door blocked the path towards the 3rd floor of Aincard.

*Guuuu*

Sword and rapier were quickly drawn as Kirito and Asuna turned around swiftly, expecting to face an enemy behind them but it was only the hungry monster in Yuuki's stomach, growling for replenishment.

"Well since we're early, how about we eat?"

Asuna said as she opens her inventory, placing down a red and white checkered mat and a familiar basket on top of it. It looked just like the one she had shown them back when they were trapped for trying to acquire the [Martial Arts] Extra Skill and they contained one of the tastiest sandwiches that have eaten since entering Sword Art Online. Seeing the picnic spread out before her, Yuuki claps her hands together as she remembers what she wanted to ask Asuna. Accessing her own inventory, Yuuki brings out a [Basic Bunsen Stove] she had bought from Urbus and also, a piece of meat which Kirito looked at warily. [Bulbous Beef].

"Yuuki ... you're not going to make me eat one of those again ... right?"

"What's wrong Kirito?"

Asuna tilted her head curiously as she notices the frown on Kirito's face but it disappears and he waves his hand to Asuna, dismissing her worry. Behind Asuna, Yuuki nodded her thanks as Kirito had understood the shushing gestures that Yuuki had been doing from Asuna's back.

"Asuna, your cooking level is above level 20 right?"

"Yes. What about it?"

In reply, Yuuki holds out the [Bulbous Beef] to Asuna and tilts her head towards the stove that Yuuki brought out. Taking the ingredient, Asuna removes a frying pan from her inventory and puts it on top of the stove. Activating the flames of the [Basic Bunsen Stove], she then reached into her menu again to take out a small kitchen knife, tapping on the [Bulbous Beef] and it lights up in bright blue and the mass of blue shrinks into smaller chunks of meat. After a minute of cooking, a pan filled with mouth-watering, properly cooked beef sat on top of the stove.

"Well ... that was surprisingly simple."

Kirito commented as he had expected a complicated process in order to create food in this world but seeing how short and idiot-proof, it had him wonder about how Yuuki could cause such an accident to occur from her earlier attempts.

"Asuna, can I borrow your knife and pan?"

Yuuki asks Asuna who gestures for Yuuki to help herself. Taking out another piece of [Bulbous Beef] which they had acquired from their climb through the Labyrinth, she follows the exact same steps which Asuna did. Everything seemed to be going right and nothing was out of the ordinary. Asuna frowns as she looks at Kirito who seemed to be backing away from Yuuki and her work, a cautious expression written on him.

"Asuna ... you should know that Yuuki ... burns water so I'm expecting something bad."

Burn water? How do you even burn water? Asuna asks herself but she jumps back suddenly as the stove along with the frying pan literally exploded into flames. Ah ... she understood Kirito's fear now.

* * *

 **2nd Floor Boss Room, December 8th, 14:36**

Everything was still going somewhat smoothly. Despite co-operation problems initially between Kiabaou and Maru's party with Agil and Kirito's, fighting for their lives against a huge oversized cow, standing five metres tall with a gigantic hammer that could likely crush at least four people together with one smash, differences were put aside temporarily as they concentrated on the boss battle.

The strategy went as such. Having researched Argo's guidebook which provided information on the boss, Baran the General Taurus, they had an understanding of the attack patterns of Baran and thus, it was the job of Agil and his party of tank-orientated members to block and deflect the crushing blows of Baran while two of the other parties deal damage when given openings. The remaining party is kept at the back as a reserve and also as a measure for a special attack of the boss. Both Baran the General Taurus and his side boss, Nato the Colonel Taurus had a special debuff-ing skill called [Numbing Impact] in which they raise their weapons which would begin glowing golden yellow and after a terribly loud battle-cry ( MOOOOOOO! ), they slam it down, damaging any standing too close to the impact. The yellow lights from the hammer would spread out like sparks and any player that comes into contact with it gets stunned for 3 seconds. Getting hit while stunned would cause the status to switch to the longer, more restricting paralyze but as a bonus, the bosses are unable to move, stuck in Post-Motion after using [Numbing Impact] though they would sometimes chain some swings along. That's where the last party comes in, going in to pull out party members caught in the debuff skill and switching out with them until they recovered.

"Yeah we did it!"

"That's one down! We can do this!"

From the other side of the Boss Room where the other four parties fought the side-boss, Nato the Colonel Taurus, cheers could be heard indicating that they had defeated their quarry. Now, it was up to Agil's group to finish the remaining health bar of Baran the General Taurus. With four empty health bars, Baran had entered a state of [Frenzy] where his attack patterns became more irrational and his special skill [Numbing Impact] was used more often. However, having battled the boss for more than half an hour already, the players recognised the motions which Baran would make just as he begins his attacks thus, he dealt little damage while receiving a ton in return.

There was a slight mishap when Baran reached 10% HP and he lashed out randomly with the hammer, managing to knock one of the tank members which were supposed to block the blow aside, leaving the fragile damage dealers in danger.

"Asuna! Yuuki! Get its attention for me!"

"Roger!"

They both shouted in unison as they charged forward with Kirito following behind them. The golden hammer of Baran flew towards the two girls at an incredible speed but Yuuki reacted instantly as well, activating her own Sword Skill [Horizontal] to deflect the weapon, leaving the boss momentarily dazed. Still running ahead due to her momentum, Yuuki uses another Sword Skill, [Rage Spike], accelerating alongside Asuna who had activated a Rapier Sword Skill [Linear], a 1-Hit lunge ability. In a flash, the red sword and thin rapier created long red cuts on Baran's leg but now, stuck in the Post-Motion of their skills, their exposed backs faced Baran as it turned around bringing back its other uninjured leg as if preparing to kick them. However behind the two swordswoman was a black-haired swordsman who ran up the muscular back, his sword lighting up for his Sword Skill [Sonic Leap] as it made solid contact with the weak point of Baran, its head.

"Everyone! Now!"

"HO!"

The players cried, surrounding the boss with their weapons, illuminating it with the various colors of the Sword Skills that were used against it. The red bar slowly moved till there was no more space to move as Baran's health was zero-ed. Fizzling for a few seconds, Baran the General Taurus exploded into green polygons, signifying its death.

"Yes! I got the Last Attack!"

Screamed a for once, happy Kiabaou. Having received the congratulating message, he fist bumped the air while smirking at Lind who seemed annoyed and bitter. That soon changed however as Kiabaou's expression changed to one of shock and disgust.

"[Golden Bull Boxers]?! What the hell?!"

In his hands, amazingly enough were a pair of horribly dazzling golden boxers. A Taurus head was printed on the front of the undergarment to make matters worse for Kiabaou as the entire raid group laughed gleefully.

"Nice job Kiabaou-san!"

"Congratulations!"

"Wear it now!"

Relieved that the battle was over, they were not ready for the next surprise that Sword Art Online had to throw at them.

"MOOOOOOO!"

It was loudest for those who were previously in the battle with Baran. Turning around, they saw something that was not supposed to be there. Another Taurus, taller than Baran, a glittering crown on its head but the scariest features were the massive hammer, twice as large as the golden one carried by Baran and its mouth which was slowly turning brighter and brighter with a golden light. Stray lightning bolts could be seen escaping and too late, the raid group realised what was about to happen.

"MOVE!"

Agil commanded and everyone tried to dodge the special attack that came. Just like the special skill of Baran and Nato, [Numbing Impact] the new boss, Asterius the Tauren King had its own debuff skill called [Numbing Detonation] but what made it different and definitly more dangerous than [Numbing Impact] was how fast the sparks travel. [Numbing Detonation] was simple to dodge if you could see it coming but the boss, unnoticed when it spawned, had enough time to charge up its attack. An explosive sound like thunder erupted and a great lightning bolt shot out of Asterius's mouth, traveling the length of the Boss Room in seconds. Those at the back had enough time to move to the sides to avoid it but not those closest to Asterius and they were Agil, Kiabaou and Kirito's party. They could only watch in horror as the long gigantic hammer swung in an arc towards them.

Slammed while being stunned, the front line flew into the air, crashing into the wall at the end of the boss room, their stun statuses changing to the more impeding paralyze. For now, they were supposed to be temporarily safe as the boss was stuck in Post-Motion but beside Yuuki, she heard a grunt of pain and the disgusting, watery sound of a weapon piercing flesh.

"K-Kirito?! You okay?"

Looking at him beside her, there was a spearhead impaled into his back and following the long shaft back to its owner, Yuuki got a shock when she saw who it was.

"Maru?! What's the meaning of this?!"

"Shut up! I was waiting so long for this! This was the beater who killed Diavel! What's wrong with taking revenge!"

Shouting maniacally, she withdrew her spear from Kirito's body only to stab it again into him, reducing his already yellow HP into the dangerously glowing red. There was a shaky smile on her face as she was finally able to release all her pent up emotions after having waited till now for Kirito to finally get immobilised and defenseless.

"Stop! You don't have to do this!"

There was no stopping. Broken and crazed, Maru held the spear high, the tip lighting up into a crimson red before shooting down with the intent of finishing of the last bit of Kirito's life.

'Move ... MOVE!'

Yuuki cried out in her mind. Paralysis disabled all movement except for the fingers and desperately, she tried to wriggle the fingers of her left hand to assume a position she hoped the system recognised. Her hand illuminated in golden yellow and with the help of the system assist, her left arm ignored the paralysis status and shot forth to knock the spear with the Martial Arts Skill, [Senda], 1-Hit thrusting attack.

The terrible sound of steel slicing through flesh could still be heard but there was no burst of green polygons which signified death. Instead, there was only a painful scream from the girl who had intercepted the spear and only to have it enter her hand. The feeling if it had to be described, is similar to having your hand pulled apart by very strong, cruel forces.

"What are you doing?!"

Maru tries to pull the spear out but seeing the action, Yuuki closed the only part of her body that could move, her fingers. They grasped the spearhead tightly, not letting it reach Kirito's fragile life nor getting withdrawn for another attack.

"Let go you idiotic girl!"

The spear pushed forward and Yuuki's hand goes along with it, the tip barely touching Kirito's armour but it could go no further, held back by Yuuki's shaking arm as it held on through sheer willpower. That willpower was breaking however, with the greater amount of pain exerted due to the force applied on the spear.

'At least Kirito is out of danger ...'

Watching her red health bar decrease slowly, she nearly blacked out from the pain but she woke up again from a sudden immense pain as the spear shoots out from her hand.

Through her watery eyes, wet from the tears of intense pain, she could see Kirito standing over her, the paralysis effect having finally ended and his palm extended out. He had used the Martial Arts Skill [Tenohira], a 1-Hit skill using the palm of the hand to slam into the opponent, inducing a knock-back effect. Pushed back, Maru slowly got onto her feet, revenge in her eyes as she glared at Kirito

"Just die already you dirty beater! You and your kind should all di ..."

If blood existed in Sword Art Online, it would have been a messy scene of gore. Cut of from her sentence, the gigantic hammer of Asterius the Tauren King replaced where Maru once stood and from beneath the huge mass of steel, polygons escaped through the corners of it. But there was no time to get emotional. Even as all the players had recovered, they were in complete disarray as there was no preparation for Asterius. Scrambling around it while getting occasional hits, they were losing health faster than they could recover. As a result, soon there was only Agil party left, trying to hold off Asterius with yellow health bars (50%-ish hp) but somehow, the raid group had dealt five out of its six health bars as damage. However, the glaring red health bars of the rest of the raid group slowly refilled itself but it was way too slow and Asterius's attacks hit harder than Baran's and Nato's, nearly killing a few players (Nearly, no one died) and reducing the HP of the tanks faster than its weaker counterparts did.

And now with its final bar of life, Asterius's skin had blackened and steam could be seen rising from it, a sign that it had entered a state of frenzy. Immediately after this began, it activated its special debuff-ing skill, [Numbing Detonation], stunning Agil's entire party before throwing them aside with its huge hammer. Thankfully, they were all tanks and no one died but no one was fit for tanking.

Kirito knew, a miracle was needed and ... he had an idea of how he might make one but ...

A miracle was needed now to take out the last HP bar.

"Yuuki do you trust me?

Even after the misunderstanding on their first meeting and walking into their bath. Even as both her and Asuna bullied him back during the Extra Skill Quest, he worked on it all day, determined to get them out. Even if it had only been three days, she could confidently say that yes, she trusted the person she had named the perverted lolicon.

"Then now, charge to the boss with me!"

He was mad. They were both at about 10% HP each, a casual wave of Asterius's hand would instantly kill them. Kirito was asking her to run towards death's waiting hands with him. But she already said she trusted him and she meant it. Gripping her red sword, Hunter's Fang tightly, she ran alongside the black-haired boy whom she had entrusted her fate to. Soon, Asterius was a mere metre away, seemingly grinning at them for accepting their destiny of being killed like lifestock.

"Now! Jump!"

Why? She would not know and she could not ask but putting all her strength into her fatigued legs, Yuuki leapt, her head leveling with Asterius's lower chest but soon, she flew higher than that, higher till her eyes made contact with the malicious ones of Asterius. Below her, Kirito had use the Martial Arts Skill [Tenohira] which had a knockback effect to push Yuuki up so that she could reach the weakpoint of the Tauruses, their heads. Doing so had further decreased Yuuki's HP to a scary 2% but she was still alive in which Kirito was relieved for.

"The rest ... is up to you."

Kirito said as he crumbles, his own fatigue sapping the strength from his legs.

There was still a short distance between Yuuki and the head of Asterius but she covered it with a Sword Skill [Sonic Leap]. Slashing a red mark onto the crown on its head, it roared (MOOOO!) in anger at the insect in its face. Unlike its predecessors, it would not be stunned by one attack and it raised one hand to slap away the tiny life that dared to touch its crown.

It was just like back then when she was fighting the ninja while helping Argo. Adrenaline hastened her awareness and her motions. Her fingers were rapidly re-positioning the Hunter's Fang for another Sword Skill, [Uppercut], leaving another red gash on Asterius. Its hand halted momentarily before moving again but then it froze again as the system recognised another Sword Skill, [Slant], putting a further dent on the weakness of Asterius. Half its HP were gone from the critical damage it took on its head but it still did not stop there as [Horizontal] and [Slant] followed suit but there was still about 5% of the last HP bar left.

She was out of Sword Skills but instead, her left hand which had been empty turned into a weapon as it glowed for the Martial Arts Skill [Tenohira]. There was still 3% of HP! The Hunter's Fang lifted off into the air as its owner released it, the weaponless hand becoming the weapon as it ignited with brilliant orange light for the Martial Arts Skill [Senda].

But it was still not enough. Staring at the last 1% silver of HP on Asterius, Yuuki could only watch as her air-time had ended, the fist of Asterius fast approaching to pummel her.

"Sorry ... Aiko ... Kirito ..."

"YUUKI!"

Green polygons showered the boss room. Kirito, blankly staring up suddenly gets into his feet, running forward to catch the girl that was falling from the sky. As he catches the unconscious Yuuki in his hands, he hurriedly side-steps as a Two-Handed Axe crashes onto the ground beside him.

" ... We did it!"

"Did you see Agil-san?!"

"He threw his whole axe!"

"He's a hero!"

"Agil! Agil!"

* * *

 **If anyone forgot the old tradition, ITS AUTHORS NOTES PART TWO PLUS SPOILERS!**

 **UP NEXT ON Sword Art Online: Atarashi No Kisetsu**

 **Its the first Christmas so its time for an event quest! Klein shall appear with all his lameness and derp! Also, let us begin the Kirito X Yuuki romance!**

 **((As always, leave a review if you wish to give encouragement or point out mistakes (Object Remover-chan is sad with nothing to delete :( ) or submit a PM if you have questions (which may be featured in future Q &A stuffs!) ))**

 **(((Also, the same friend who suggested me writing Sword Art Online:Kurohime also suggested I do an omake (or extra chapter) with characters from both sides interacting with one another. What do you guys think?)))**

 **((((This is an advertisement, If you enjoy Sword Art Online:Atarashi No Kisetsu , The Gray Cat or calling itself, GureNeko brings another story from the Sword Art Online franchise. Ever wanted to see Kirito as a girl? Well, here she is, a beauty named Kurohime staring in her own story, Sword Art Online:Kurohime written by the very same GureNeko! ))))**

 **(((((Penta parentheses. I know we all hate advertisements but I gotta put them there :P )))))**


	5. Chapter 5

**(Insert Doge meme here) Much Wow, So Early, Wow, Too much Wow-ing here**

 **OKAY HI AGAIN! IT'S VERY LATE I KNOW BUT MERRY CHIRSTMASU (Ya noob you're like 4 days late) YES I'M VERY SORRY OKAY ... BUT FINALLY HERE'S CHAPTER 5 FOR SAO : Atarashi no Kisetsu (Bleh this took awhile ... FINE IT TOOK A LONG TIME)**

 **Well there's sorta a backstory for all this (Excuses you noob)((LOLOL I'M SORRY)). This is sorta my first time writing these type of cheesy romantic emotion scenes (GIVE ME COMBAT NOT THIS) and it took a long time (Like a whole week ... seriously) for me to finally be satisfied and leave it at that. THEN I LOST ALL IDEAS TO WRITE THE LAST 2 AREAS (The place where there's lines ... yeah ... places :P ) and then I took a break. So I decided to binge watch anime as a form of leisure so I picked up what my friend recommended me namely Charlotte, Clannad and Little Busters (OKAY I KNOW ITS HERESY BUT I ACTUALLY NEVER WATCHED THEM BEFORE) AND GOD DARN I SORTA FELL IN LOVE WITH CHARLOTTE TOO HARD AND REWATCHED IT AND ACCIDENTALLY WROTE A TINY FANFIC ABOUT IT... ERRR ... YEAH ... DELAYS (Include massive heartbreaks at watching 3 endings of those animes ... NAGISAAAA, USHIOOOO, KYOUSUKEEEEEE, YUUUUUUU and don't forget, NAOOOOOOOOOOO (best gurl)  
**

 **On more serious matters, SAO : Kurohime (My other fanfic) is delayed cause the text file went missing (I think I forgot to save ... darn) and I'm also helping a friend co-write a fiction (YEAP, FICTION, NOT A FANFICTON) but on the good side, MY PART TIME JOB WILL END THIS WEEK ( equals, More free time , YAY!, till school starts, [Joins Criminal Guild] )**

 **Reviews for this chapter is extra appriciated as stated earlier, kinda my first time writing this way (More emotions and stuff) and as always, messages are a thing for questions and random spam (Spam equals block so err ... don't spam :P )**

 **Once again, another apology (sorry :( ) but here's Chapter 5**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Melting Hearts  
**

Lying on the ground, facedown, Yuuki regained consciousness suddenly. Her memories were still fuzzy and disorientated as she slowly sat up, shaking her head. Then she realised, something was off. She was in a large empty space, snow white and seemingly endless as far as her eyes could see. There was also no one here with her. No raid party, no angry cow bosses, no Agil, no Asuna, no Kirito. It was deathly silent.

"Am I ... dead?"

She asked the air around her. There was a presence behind her. She could not explain how she would have known but maybe it was a sixth sense, she felt something or someone behind her and she turned.

"Aa ... A-Aiko?!"

Standing there, a pale fog shrouding her body was someone Yuuki could painfully recognise. The twin sister that she had left behind, Konno Aiko. Leaping up to her feet, she ran after what she hoped was her sister. Yuuki's hand reached out, trying to claw for the figure which never seemed to come closer to her even as Yuuki pumped all her energy into her legs. Finally, tiring from the run, Yuuki's legs gave way and she kneels down, defeated. In front of her, Aiko was standing there, expressionless, watching Yuuki with blank eyes.

"I-I miss you ... Aiko ... Save me ... I'm scared."

Emotions pent up and shoved to the back of her mind poured out all at once. She had endured through so much yet, home was still so far away. She had tried her very best, keeping a positive attitude but progress was so slow, she couldn't take it anymore. She wanted to get out. She wanted to see Aiko again. She wanted to be saved.

As if in reply, a hand patted her shoulder. It was firm and strong as it gripped her tightly and gently. Slowly turning around was a face she did not expect to see in her world of white. Messy long black hair reaching to his eyebrows, shiny pitch black eyes and a stoic poker-face, it was the face of the black swordsman, Kirito.

"Thanks ... Then I trust you ... Kirito."

* * *

 **An Inn on the 3rd Floor, December 9th, 05:05  
**

It was still warm. On her right shoulder which Kirito held, there was a comforting heat which made Yuuki feel safe and reassured. However, unlike the previous world, the world she had woken up in now was full of feelings. There was the rough sensation of blankets covering her body as well as the softness of the feather pillow. Slowly opening her eyes, she took note of three things. First, it was a dark room with moonlight illuminating what few furniture there was, a table, couple of chairs and a chest. A typical room in an inn. Second, there was something heavy on her shoulder, it wasn't pressed down but it was just there, on top of the blankets which covered the shoulder. Lastly, Kirito's face was right in front of her's. His eyes were closed as he slept with one arm stretched up, holding onto Yuuki's shoulder.

Ba-dump

What was with this situation! Its just like he had seriously answered her in the white world which she now assumed was a dream. But more importantly, why was he sleeping here with her?! Thinking back, she finally remembered the events that had occurred before she had passed out. Asterius was still alive even after her relentless assault and having used too many skills consecutively while heavily fatigued (From Low HP), her last memory was looking at that tiny red bar of Asterius health refusing to move as its fist flew towards her. She should be dead but apparently, she wasn't. Also, now that her head was clear, she got a feeling of deja-vu.

But unlike last time, she hadn't jumped out of bed and knocked Kirito away. Back then, she had no idea who he was and he might have just been a random pervert, trying to chance his luck with a sleeping girl but now, she had said that she trusted Kirito. Plus, she admitted with a slightly flushed face, that this was indeed, comfortable with Kirito's reliable hand transferring security and warmth to Yuuki. His expression was also one that she had never seen before as he was most of the time, expressionless or fully serious, a frown on his face as he concentrated intensely in battle. Now it was surprisingly peaceful.

"And rather cute ... Mhmmm what am I saying."

Making sure that she kept the same position, she closed her eyes for another few hours of rest.

* * *

"Aiko ..."

Seated on the chair in the room, half-asleep, he perked up on hearing the tiny pleading voice. He shook his head, trying to wake himself up and ensure that he wasn't dreaming. The swordswoman who fought on par with him, a Beta-Tester named the Beater, one of the strongest players in Sword Art Online. The girl who was ever so cheerful and innocent during their short adventures on the 2nd Floor. He had never heard such a frightened tone from her and it was ... scary somehow.

"Save ... me."

"Oi ... Yuuki! You okay?"

Pushing himself off the chair, nearly knocking it down in the process, he crossed the short distance between him and the bed in two long strides. Crouching down to be at eye level with Yuuki's face, he confirmed what he had seen. Shining in the moonlight as it leaked out of her closed eyes, pearly tears gathered around the edge of her eyes before beginning its journey down her pale face which bore an expression of pain and sadness.

Maybe this was not the best way to handle the situation. But back in the real world when he was younger, his aunt would pat him to sleep after a rough day in the family dojo, training with his strict grandfather. It did work whenever she had done that and he hoped it worked now as he slowly reached out with a hand and reaching the thin, shaking shoulders of the crying girl, he began patting it gently.

"Thanks ..."

It was all he can do at the moment. Reassuring her that she was not alone in her pain, he sat down on the ground beside the bed. The name that Yuuki had called out to was likely someone from the real world. A loved one whom she dearly missed but could never see, hear nor feel as long as she was stuck in this death game. Thinking about this, Kirito finally remembered why him comforting Yuuki was so painfully nostalgic.

"Didn't I use to do this for you ... Suguha ... How are you and mother faring back there ... I miss you too."

His younger sister and mother were likely worried for him as he laid in bed, a metal cage on his head, trapping him in a world they could not see. Even if he had been rather distant to Suguha recently due to his guilt over certain problems he had caused for her, he still remembered their more innocent and friendlier days in their childhood.

"You're just like her Yuuki."

But as he ebbed away into the realm of sleep, a voice echoed at the back of his head.

"But Yuuki is not Suguha."

* * *

Maybe after all that reminiscing he did before he accidentally fell asleep, he had hoped for a vision of the past, to be able to see the family he had left behind but instead, he got a dreamless night. Facedown against the bed, seated on the ground, it was a bad position to be in and his back were already starting to feel the pains of the de-buff "Uncomfortable sleep".

"What's ... this?"

One of his hands were in contact with a smooth material, warm to the touch and between his finger and thumb, was a strange object, seemingly of the same feeling but it stuck out. Curious as he was, he pinched it lightly and found out that it was soft and squishy. Still dazed and confused from having just woken up, he was unable to figure out why his hand was in such a position nor what was he holding in his finger and thumb.

"Uhm ... Kirito?"

A weird, thick voice asked him. Ah ... he just remembered that he had gone over to the bedside and had accidentally fallen asleep there. So whatever his hand was touching right now likely belonged to the girl who had hit him the last time a similar event happened. Slowly and abit fearfully, he raised his head from its position and then, he was looking right into Yuuki. Flushed with his hand on her cheek and its fingers squeezing her nose shut, Kirito blanked out as he finally understood what he had done.

"Err ... let go already?"

The nasal voice which made Yuuki sound like she was having a cold reminded him that he should release his hold on her nose and as soon as he does that, she takes in a deep breath and Kirito unconsciously edged back, as if preparing for a sudden blow. But there was none to come as they both stared at each other for a few silent moments.

"It's nice but ... maybe your hand too?"

"Ah, sorry ..."

Under the refreshing morning rays that lit up the room, Yuuki's face might have resembled the sun, crimson red like a bright tomato. Gradually creeping into the woolly blankets, she hid herself from Kirito mostly, with her little ears showing through the top of the blankets like fresh chilies.

Cute, the dark whisper echoed in the back of Kirito's head.

* * *

 **Outskirts of the Town, 3rd Floor, December 9th 10:06**

"Why do you still follow me?"

After a silent walk from the inn to the exit of the town, Kirito finally spoke but though Yuuki should only see his back, something about his tone made her uneasy.

"What do you mean?"

They had stopped in the lonely and peaceful forest, off the roads that led to the Questing areas where they would not be overheard by anyone passing by.

"I killed two people whom you have known."

He didn't need to mention names for Yuuki to know that he was referring to Diavel and Maru.

"Kirito, it's not your fa ..."

"If I had been faster, Diavel wouldn't have died. If I had not shown up for the Boss fight, maybe she wouldn't have died. Maybe ... if I died instead, none of this would have happened. You ... also thought of maybe killing me like her ... ri- ..."

*slap*

He was cut off from finishing his sentence by the sudden blow to his cheek and he didn't look up again, unwilling to meet Yuuki's eyes.

"Kirito ... Didn't you ask me whether I trusted you? I said I did so where's your trust in me?"

Though trying her best to sound harsh, her voice sounded more hurt than angry.

"Don't say that ever again ... dummy ..."

"... sorry. I should have had more faith in you ... sorry."

"Diavel told me, the only way to go is forward. I know you tried your best ... and there's nothing wrong with living so don't be caught up in the past where it can't be changed and just continue staying alive."

He knew she was right and now he felt stupid that he had brought up such a depressing topic.

"You're right ... sorry ..."

Punching his shoulder gentle with a bright smile on her face, Yuuki replied in a light tone.

"It's okay already. Enough sorry-ing."

"Sor- ... Never mind Sor- ..."

She was not ready for the unexpected attacked. On Kirito for the first time in her view, a small, weak smile crept onto his face as he meekly scratched his chin. It was a simple expression of one's happiness or relief but on a person whose main feature had been a plain, uninterested and serious look for the entirety of their time, to Yuuki, it looked so peaceful. And maybe slightly cute and a tiny bit of handsomeness.

"I think you slapped me too hard just now. Was it necessary?"

"There are some things that can't be conveyed with words, remember Mr Sorry?"

* * *

 **Town of Beginnings, 1st Floor , December 25th 17:47  
**

"Ah Agil. He's over there."

Pointing out the person they were meeting to the huge brown giant, he nods as he sees who they were supposed to meet.

"That's ... interesting."

Wearing a red bandanna which held up his ridiculously spiky reddish-brown hair, armoured in dark red leather armor, Klein had indeed tried his best to look like a samurai though his hooked nose and slight beard made him look more like a highway robber. Spotting out Kirito approaching him, Klein taps his friends beside him and they stood up and approached Kirito.

"Long time no see Kirito! Glad you could make it."

"Same here Klein. Glad to see you're still alive."

They both shook hands and Klein then pulls Kirito by the shoulders to his friends.

"Dynamm, Issin, meet this overpowered, dense idiot Kirito. Kirito, Dynamm and Issin."

Grinning mischievously as he introduced Kirito to his two friends, he then turned around to look at Agil curiously

"So Kirito ... didn't I ask you to bring two people? I assume this person is your friend"

"Ah yeah. This is Agil. Agil, Klein."

That introduction provoked a reaction from Klein and his two mates as they stared at Agil with eyes, widened from shock.

"Agil?! The Agil here?!"

"The Ogre himself?! Seriously?!"

"K-Kirito ... you're ... really ... how do you know him?"

Ever since the boss fight on the 2nd Floor, Agil made quite a big name for himself for the extremely flashy way he finished of the boss, Asterius the Taurus King, by throwing his Two-Handed Axe across half of the room to destroy the last bit of HP and clear the 2nd Floor. And that name being the Ogre, the insanely strong axe-wielding menace that decimated his foes with a gigantic swing of his deadly axe.

"Yeah ... so ... Agil ... Klein."

Kirito awkwardly waved his hands to conclude introductions. Agil, eyebrows raised from the biggest reaction he had seen from his name thus far, was still curious.

"So Klein-san, what are the rumors of me now?"

Already, in a matter of two weeks, the story of the giant slayer, the Ogre had been exaggerated to such a large degree that it didn't even sound real anymore. Legend speaks of the massive man called the Ogre who first appeared on the frontlines of the 1st Floor, bravely leading the players to defeat the 1st Boss and then on the 2nd Floor, he continued being the leader and when the boss came, nearly everyone was killed but! The Ogre demonstrated his god-like strength, wrestling the 5-metre warhammer from titanic Asterius the Taurus King and then throwing it at the boss, crushing its entire body in one strike.

"... Seriously?!"

Deep laughter erupted from the hero who was laughing at the tales of himself and joining him, Kirito who was hearing this for the first time, also released a snort and began laughing lightly. But only briefly as Klein grabs him again, ruffling his messy hair.

"Woah! That's something I never thought I'd see. But anyways, one more member is missing?"

"She messaged me she was coming."

Kirito felt his head twisted to meet Klein's face as he asks.

"A she?! ... my my Kirito's growing up."

To that, he received a not to gentle elbow to the stomach.

"Is it Asuna-san?"

Agil asks Kirito who shakes his head.

"She's busy. But instead it's ... never mind she's here already."

All eyes turned to face the direction of the teleport gate and they all saw the one girl that was walking towards them. Long piano black hair that reached her waist, bright crimson red eyes, dressed in a violet blouse and windswept skirt with black metal plates protecting her upper body, a thin and long black sword, almost a rapier hung at her side but her most noticable feature was her height, around 150 cm which was rather short.

Yuuki waves over to them and Kirito was about to return the wave but he was suddenly pulled back and turned around by Klein, who had Kirito in a headlock.

"Oi oi ... I never thought those kind of girls were your type."

"Its nothing like that ..."

"Oh ... then she's free for the taking?"

Right here, Klein and Agil were both expecting a reply which went around something like "What are you, a middle-aged pervert?" But instead.

"N-no ..."

In his arms, Klein could see the nervousness and a tiny hinge of shyness on Kirito's face as he said that.

However, Klein and Kirito weren't exactly whispering as they had their exchange which was clearly overheard by Yuuki who after hearing Kirito's unexpected reply, looked away hurriedly with a slightly flushed face. Looking between the two youngsters, Agil and Klein both snorted and looking at each other, they knew what each other would say.

"Ah ... Youth."

And together, both youth's replied indignantly.

"It's nothing like that!"

* * *

 **1st Floor Boss Room, 1st Floor , December 25th 18:50**

Waiting outside, the party consisting of Klein, Dynamm, Issin, Agil, Kirito and Yuuki gathered together for a review of the information that Klein had collected. At 7:00 PM, Aincard Standard Time (19:00), a special event quest would begin in the 1st Floor Boss Room as a "celebration" of the seasonal holiday known as Christmas. However, there was a minimum level requirement of Level 12 to enter the dungeon which required Klein to scout for other players to join him as out of his friends, only he, Dynamm and Issin barely met the requirements of Level 12 and so he managed to convince Kirito, the Level 18 Beater to join him and bring other front-liners with him and those being Agil the "Ogre", Level 17 and Yuuki, Level 17. The event quest site was empty but that was likely due to the players in the lower floors being unable to reach Level 12 fast enough with only Floors 1-3 open for training as the 4th was occupied by the front-liners who were concentrating more on pushing onward then going on side quests such as these.

"So all I've found out is that this is supposed to be a parody of the 1st Boss, Illfang the Kobold Lord so its definitely a combat event. Aside from that, I have no other information and neither did Argo-chan."

With the short briefing done, a silence fell as the group had no idea of what to talk about which was easily solved by Klein.

"Errr ... so. Hope you don't mind me asking but how do you guys celebrate Christmas?"

At first, no one seemed willing to say anything and that was likely due to the unspoken rule of "not talking about the real world" and Klein realised that as well. Opposite him, he noticed that Yuuki looked uncomfortable as her eyes shied away.

"Ah sorry Yuuki-chan. You don't have to answer."

"It's not that ... it's just that I never celebrated Christmas before so I can't answer."

That made it awkward for the group but once again, Klein takes the initiative.

"Well ... I usually grab my guys, Dynamm, Issin and the rest of my crew and we eat out on Christmas, drinking sake till sunrise while singing Christmas songs. Sounds plain but that's how I celebrate."

The rest of the group now seemed enthusiastic to also share their own experiences.

"Like Klein said, we'll eat together but we also bring gifts to one another, mostly games but its still a present."

"We'd usually go to a park next day and mess around with the snow. You know, snowball fighting and stuff."

Dynamm and Issin chipped in. Agil and Kirito was next in line.

"I'll bring my wife for her Christmas shopping and then we would wait for midnight when the fireworks are launched and the trees are lit up. It is always a beautiful sight that should never be missed."

"With my younger sister and mother ... we celebrate that is. Yeah ... with a Christmas tree and presents."

Maybe one day, somehow, she hoped that she could see such a sight. Somehow ... if she was still alive.

* * *

 **1st Floor Boss Room, 1st Floor , December 25th 19:14**

Much had changed about the room since Yuuki had seen it nearly a month ago. Remade to suit the Christmas theme, the floor had been covered in a thin ice and on the walls of the rooms where torches once lit up the whole area, there were now festive lights of a variety of colors. At the back of the room where the throne of the previous 1st Boss Illfang the Kobold Lord once was, it had been replaced with a sleek red sled and ontop of it, sat the reincarnation of the Boss itself. Glittery blue skin, glaring white eyes, a huge shovel beside the sled, it was Chillfang the Snobold Lord.

It was called a parody of the Illfang Boss Fight but no one had expected to be battling without their weapons. Instead, they were forced to join along with the Christmas spirit and fight it the holiday way, snowball battle. It took them about ten minutes but they finally defeated the boss, Chillfang, the Snobold Lord. The room had lost its previously neat look with mounds of snow resembling walls which were hastily built to protect themselves from the barrage of projectiles from Chillfang and his Snobold Sentinels.

"Ho! Ho! Ho!"

A hearty, merry voice erupted from the roof of the room and looking up, the party saw a huge shadow plummeting down and finally crashing down at where Chillfang formerly stood before dying. The snow and dust from the landing cleared and in the middle of the tiny crater was a bulging red sack.

"Yeah! Rewards!"

Klein went forward to touch the sack but as soon as he said that, a large number "5" appeared on the top of the sack in a menacing, bolded red color. Everyone at first seemed curious and confused by it but then its changed with a *tick* sound to the number "4". Soon panic spread throughout the group as with another *tick*, "3" appeared.

"Klein what did you do!"

"Don't ask me!"

"It's going to blow?!"

Before they continued arguing they realised, it was already at "1". Not taking any chances, they all jumped backwards and buried themselves in the snow. There was a rather underwhelming *poof* sound followed by an intense wind, originating from where the ticking sack was, covering everyone in a mist of white snow.

"Is everyone okay?

Agil's voice called out from the white fog and as everyone turned in the direction of his voice, they all saw the same strange shadow. It was definitly his huge bulky mass there but on his head, there seemed to be two long bumps. Slowly as they regained their vision, the blurry bumps solidified into a pair of long branch-like horns and finally when they could see again, it was a comedic sight all around.

"HA! Agil what's up with that!"

Stuffed into a brown suit, a big red nose replacing his slightly smaller normal one and two long, white antlers, Agil might have passed for a reindeer.

"Tch! Ha! Speak for yourself Klein."

It was then he realised, his mouth was warm and well-covered by a glossy white beard and so was his head by a comfy red hat.. Fearing the worst, he checked the rest of his body which now bore the red suit of Christmas's important figure. Following the trend, Dynamm and Issin were dressed similarly to Klein though in the full green to look the part of Santa's elves.

Much to the chagrin and disappointment of the four bizarre transformations, Kirito and Yuuki only had a red Christmas hat propped up on the heads but then, Kirito pointed out to Yuuki that another part of her had changed. Her hair had changed color to a purplish-black and upon checking her status menu, it seemed like it was a permanent dye. At least until she decided to re-dye it.

* * *

 **An Inn in the Town of Beginnings, 1st Floor , December 25th 23:58**

"Yuuki ... Yuuki!"

She awoke to the gentle tapping on the door and the hushed whisper of her name. Having recognised the voice of the late night visitor, she opened the door without hesitation to greet the black-haired boy who stood outside.

"Follow me. Quick!"

Pulling her hand, Kirito whisks her away, taking two steps at a time down the staircase and then briskly taking wide steps with Yuuki, dressed in a plain white overall which she used for sleeping had no time to care about her attire as she is half-pulled, half-carried away by the curiously anxious Kirito. Brining her out of the Inn, he led her through a few narrow streets and they finally ended up in the dark central plaza of the Town of Beginnings.

"Only a few seconds to spare. Good."

"Wha ..."

Yuuki didn't have time to ask as flashes of light erupted all around the plaza as fireworks of gold and red sparkled brightly in the endless night. Now in the middle of the plaza Yuuki could now see a huge pine tree surrounded with just about everything that decorated a Christmas tree. Tiny toys, colorful ornaments and of course, glittering lights that lit up, illuminating the entire area with a blast of colors like a rainbow. Beside her she could see Kirito who was unable to contain his smile from seeing her fascinated expression.

"I just thought that since you haven't celebrated Christmas before ... you know."

He said sheepishly, waving his hands to the bright night.

"You usually make a wish here."

Then ...

I wish that next Christmas would be as beautiful as this

I wish that next year we could celebrate in the real world

I wish that you would keep smiling

I wish ... I could have known what would make you lose your smile

* * *

 **MEH WE'VE sORTA COME TO THE END OF THiS CHAPTER. FEELS RATHER UNDERWHELMInG AND A REDUCTIoN OF STAnDARD ...**

 **(I blame the lack of combat scenes for this and also the requirement of writing lovey-dovey scenes ...)**

 **Excuse me I have a tradition to keep, SPOILERRRRRRRR ALLLEEERRRRTTTTT**

 **LEAVE NOW IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED (( Exit's this way - [Insert Exit here]))**

 **SAO : Atarashi no Kisetsu Chapter 6 ! : Moonlight Black Cats (You know what's coming), Sachi (Yeap you know it), A certain room where you can't use crystals (Get me out of here ...), And ... ANOTHER CHARACTER REVEAL! (Should I tell ... should I not ... oemfosgmsts)**

 **(((Actually if you want to know ... look at the first line of this 2nd author's notes.)))**

 **(((( Want another clue? Hmmm ... nopE, LoL nOob))))**

 **(((((FINAL CLUE, HELLO ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ )))))**


	6. Chapter 6

**Well I disappeared for quite awhile. Wonder if anyone is still here.**

 **Hey its an actual chapter! (Even thought its a rather short and crappy one, its something!) Its Sword Art Online : Rebirth of the Absolute Sword (No longer is it Atarashi no Kisetsu, rest in peace that name.) There's even a new summary!**

 **Whelp I can't hide the fact I disappeared for 3 months and its pretty much because school started once against and high school life is a pretty mean master. Though, I'll say I have adapted to life and am ready to begin writing again!**

 **Please enjoy Chapter 6 and leave a review if you had enjoyed it(Or you didn't or you just wanna slap me for vanishing, my body is semi-ready ;~;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 6 : Melancholy of the Black Cat Pt.1**

 **Labyrinth of the 8th Floor, March 15th  
**

"Keep at it guys! We're close to killing it!"

Keita shouted, encouraging his guild members to continue standing firm as the mini-boss they were fighting "Elder Basilisk", was down to its last health bar after the other four had been depleted. The gigantic snake raised its massive frame and with a sinister hiss, it slammed its huge body onto the ground, creating a shockwave which knocked back the forward member of the guild, Tetsuo, who was sent flying and landing a significant distance away, dazed and unable to recover from a temporary stun status. But he would not be joining the Moonlight Black Cats anytime soon and that posed a huge problem as he was their only forward member. That meant that now, the rest of them were open and unguarded without their tank member.

*Hissssss*

Without the pesky player with his annoying unbreakable shield to hide behind, the Elder Basilisk went for the rest, the ones who had been causing it pain and distress for the past 15 minutes of combat. Its tail lashed out, slamming into one of its attackers, a tiny girl wielding a spear twice her height and she fell back, releasing a wimpy scream as her health bar dropped from the safe green to the blaring red of near-death.

"No! Retreat! Ducker get Sachi!"

"Roger leader!"

Keita sent Ducker because in the guild he was had the skillset commonly seen in RPGs as a "Thief" (He prefers Treasure Hunter, thief sounds less cool) and thus, had the highest agility stat and fastest movement speed amongst all the members but as he tried to run for Sachi, their fallen female member, the Elder Basilisk had already encircled its frightened prey with its long body, closing out all routes of escape.

Seeing Ducker dashing for her, she thought that maybe, just maybe she might get out of this and see another day but then, murky-green leathery skin blocked her vision. Looking up fearfully, she saw the snake bare its fangs as the black darkness of its mouth planned to swallow her whole. So after five months of trying to live, this was how she would die. But she did not want to die. Even as she felt useless and a burden, death was still too scary for her.

"Crap! Sachi!"

Ducker shouted drawing his dagger but he knew it was hopeless. There was no way for them to eliminate the boss before it finished off Sachi. No way for them but not so for the swift shadow that suddenly shot past Ducker.

She began with a One-Handed Sword Skill [Ascension], a 3-hit combo which consisted of two uppercut strikes followed by a powerful downward strike. Immediately after the three attacks had landed, her long, thin rapier-like longsword had already changed from the shining green light of [Ascension] to the dim yellow light of [Cross Spike], a 3-hit combo with two slashes following the shape of an "X" ending it with a devastating lunge in the middle. Having received an immense amount of damage delivered in just a few seconds, the [Hate] (Its a SAO mechanic for like errr ... target switching ... sort of) of the Elder Basilisk increased so much that its attention switched from the victim it had caught to the newcomer whom was a way bigger threat than the whole guild of the Moonlight Black Cats had been. It had expected to the unknown player to be stuck in [Post-Motion] after having used two high-level Sword Skills (at that time) but somehow, she was still moving and it was in the motion of another Sword Skill, [Shadow Strike] (A weaker version of the more famous Vorpal Strike), a 1-hit skill which seemingly extended the blade by half its length and increasing the weapons potency. The big slit eyes of the Elder Basilisk only saw long lustrous purple hair and a pair of fiercely determined crimson-colored eyes before the bright violet sword pierced its weakpoint, its unguarded eyes, deducting the few hitpoints it had left from the brief assault.

* * *

 **Later in the day  
**

"1, 2, 3!"

"Thank you Yuuki-san!"

The five members of the guild, Moonlight Black Cats shouted, raising their glasses in gratitude to their savior seated down between them. The purple-haired girl awkwardly waved her hands, trying to avoid the looks and stares of the other patrons of the inn they were currently celebrating in.

"It's alright but isn't this abit too much?"

"Don't sweat it. After all if not for you, Sachi here would not be with us now."

Their leader, Keita said, patting the only female member in the guild on her head, Sachi.

"Treating me like a child again Keita!"

She pushes Keita's hand away, sticking her tongue out in rebellion before bowing in Yuuki's direction to show her sincerity which made Yuuki feel all the more embarrassed by the amount of thanks she was receiving.

"Well ... its all over already so lets just celebrate!"

"Yeah!"

Keita had dug deep into the Col reserves of his guild and it transitioned into the beautiful feast laid out before them. Everything that you might have expected to see at an expensive restaurant back in the real world. Steaming hot meat, glittering from the thin layer of oil that shrouded it. Fresh and clean greenery as well as a few huge jugs of sparkling fruit juice. Since they had went and bought all this despite to Yuuki's refusals, it would be a waste not to just let it slip and enjoy her one day of fame in luxury.

"Mind if I ask more questions? What's were you doing down in the first place?"

Keita asks while stuffing a fat yellow potato into his mouth. He had been asking Yuuki questions on the way back to town and till she had revealed that she was level 35 and one of the front liners, the players that fought on the highest floors and defeated the floor bosses to open the way up to eventually end Sword Art Online. Initially, the Black Cats stoned out, their frozen brains trying to process what they had just heard before tripping over themselves, throwing more questions in though Yuuki had managed to calm them till now. But now, after the barrage of questions, gratitude and celebrations, she forgot why she was even there in the first place.

At least she finally remembered when the door to the inn slammed open as another person stepped in. She was one that Yuuki recognised and she helped jogged Yuuki's memory.

"Oh I remember. I was here to collect some plants from the 8th floor. Oh ..."

As Asuna approached the table where Yuuki sat, her face became clearer to Yuuki who started to break out in cold sweat. She was looking down the lion's mouth and when the lioness finally arrived at the table and gripped Yuuki's shoulder, she felt a shiver go down her spine from the silent firm strength behind the hand.

"Yuuki~ lets go outside shall we~?"

The falsely sweet voice rang alarm bells in Yuuki that the lioness behind her that was emitting an extremely menacing aura was really pissed. Putting on a shaky smile, she nods to the members of the Moonlight Black Cats who seem to be stunned by the appearance of a recognisable front liner, the fastest rapier user, Asuna the Flash.

"S-Sure Asuna ... Well ... you guys have me on your friend list. See ya around!"

'Yeap ... definitely in trouble.' Yuuki thought as the grip tightens, forcing her to stand up and head towards the door which led to a reprimanding with Asuna guiding her from behind with a menacing aura. The members of the Moonlight Black Cats awkwardly wave their goodbyes and then proceeded to chatter excitedly amongst themselves about meeting two front liners in just one day.

* * *

 **Outside the Tavern  
**

"Asuna ... I-I'm ... you know ..."

Yuuki tried to begin as she continued forward with Asuna behind like a guard watching its prisoner but then there was a light knock on the back of her head.

"Honestly what was I worried about. I came down here after you never returned and there you are relaxing ..."

"Hee hee ... sorry Asuna, forgot about you."

Yuuki scratches her head and laughs it off, seeing that Asuna was not crazy mad. She however sighs and shakes her head in exasperation.

"You remind me of him you know. So carefree and easygoing."

"Who's him?"

"Who else? Kirito-kun."

The name triggered off a landmine and Yuuki suddenly felt less interested in talking altogether, her usual big excitable smile fading to a smaller sad one. Asuna easily notices this and goes on.

"Don't think I haven't noticed. You two have been pretty quiet on the front lines as well. Did something happen?"

The regular meetings in the front lines to discuss the strategy and disseminate information involved the top players and guilds which are the front liners that Yuuki, Asuna, Kirito and several others belonged to. As Asuna had noticed, Yuuki had been avoiding Kirito and he seemed to have not minded.

'Or maybe he didn't notice because of the denseness of his brawny head'

Asuna thought silently as she glares at Yuuki unrelentingly till she finally gave an answer. Time passed on with the lioness staring into the brick wall before she started thinking back to where all this could have possibly happened and then it dawned on her.

"Christmas ... something happened on Christmas right?"

'Is Asuna some detective goddess' Yuuki thought, not managing to stop herself from licking her lips, a sign that Asuna saw and knew that she was on to something. Stepping closer to Yuuki and bring her mouth to Yuuki's ear, she slowly asks.

"Do ... you ... like Kirito-kun?"

The fresh tomato-colored ears gave Asuna all the answers she needed for now as she sighes for probably the third time in their chat, going to ruffle the shorter girl's hair.

"I thought it was something more serious like a fight. Why not just tell him?"

"Sorry Asuna, I can't do that."

It wasn't only the immediate response that surprised Asuna. It was the defeated and emotionless tone behind it.

"Why?"

This was something she had not told anyone. And it was likely she was never going to do so. She was too scared to give her real reasons.

"I'm scared Asuna. But its not what you're thinking of. I would want to tell Kirito but ... I don't want to make him sad ... and you too."

When Yuuki looked up, Asuna wondered how well she knew the person she considered one of her best friends in this world. There was a clearly forced smile which looked more depressing than placating and while Yuuki's red eyes were seemingly looking into Asuna's, she knew they were looking past her, to somewhere she couldn't see, to the reason why her friend was still a big mystery to her. Seeing such a sight, she gave in for now.

"Who knows when that may ever change? Just to let you know Yuuki, I-I might s-steal him away b-because I-I too l-l-like K-Ki... Kiri ... to-kun."

Yuuki lost her frozen, lost look and giggled, hearing how hard it was for Asuna to even admit such a thing and seeing her facial expressions as she did so. Maybe it may change she thought.

She hoped for it to change though it would need a miracle.

It would never change.

* * *

 **11th Floor, Taft, April 17th, 00:14  
**

Stepping out of the teleportation gate, Yuuki shook her head again to get her bearings and to keep herself awake before opening her menu with a swipe of her left forefinger and checking the message that she had received minutes ago.

[Yuuki-san. Hello, this is Sachi from the Moonlight Black Cats. I hope you still remember me. Do you have time to come down to the 11th Floor? I want your help.]

"Yuuki-san, thanks for coming."

A black-haired girl steps out from the shadows, bowing her head to Yuuki and as she closed in, it was recognisable to be Sachi. Yuuki however, noticed the difference in that behind her back wasn't the long spear she had used a month ago but a large tower shield and a simple longsword on her belt.

"No problem Sachi. You needed help?"

Sachi nods again in reply but then bows her head lower instead of raising it, as if pleading with Yuuki.

"C-Could you please teach me how to fight forward?"

That was completely unexpected and Yuuki was unable to respond for a moment. Sachi misunderstood and took it as denial.

"Please Yuuki-san. I have no one else to ask except for you. I don't know any other forwards other than him."

Yuuki figured that the 'him' that Sachi mentioned was Keita, the mace-wielding forward in the Moonlight Black Cats and their only one. She could only wonder why Sachi chose to become a forward fighter and why she did not want to ask Keita.

"I haven't taught anyone before. You sure?"

Sachi looked a little disappointed before perking up, finally realising what Yuuki had said.

"You'll do it?"

The black haired girl was ecstatic that Yuuki had accepted. Now maybe with a guidance, she could stand on the same level as him and maybe, he would notice her more and see her as an equal rather than a pitiable coward.

"Kirito-san. Get ready."

The girl whispers to herself, unheard by anyone but her excited self.

* * *

 **That chapter title seems pretty dark.**

 **All I will say is**

 **THE DARK, GETS EVEN DARKER**

 **Err ... I'm back, so hi peoples! I'll write more!**

 **Ermmm ... [insert 101 excuses]**

 **Please check out my other project, Sword Art Online : Alone in the Radiant Night**

 **It is a darker story of Sword Art Online, going more on a dramatic and psychological theme**


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